October Fool's Day
by PoisonousTiger
Summary: Arthur wants to get back at Alfred for his Halloween prank last year, so he gets some extra help from a Welsh white witch. Her magic never fails, so he's guaranteed success with no problems, right? Uh-huh. Sure... Full of fluff and hilarity w/UK X fem!US.
1. Find a Witch

******Step 1: Find a Witch**

Arthur was lost. The streets of Wales always confused him. He couldn't read some of the local street signs. He never bothered to learn his older brother's language out of spite, and now he was regretting it. Asking someone for directions didn't help either because of that bloody Welsh accent. _I know that's English, but I can't understand a bloody thing this person is saying_, he'd find himself thinking every time someone gave him directions.

"Och. Gregory. I wish we didna have to visit your cousin every year," a woman said off to Arthur's left. "Why canna he come up to Glasgow once 'n a while?"

Arthur glanced over and saw a middle-aged couple walking out of a restaurant.

"Because he dunna have a car, Alison," Gregory replied. "I tell ya this every year an' every year ya seem to forget!"

"He could take the train," Alison suggested.

These Scots were actually a little easier to understand than most, so Arthur decided to risk it. "Excuse me," he said, approaching them. "Could you tell me where I could find this address?" He handed the man the paper with the address on it.

Gregory glanced at the writing on the slip of paper. "Aye, I can tell ya where it is, but I dunna advise goin' there," he said. "Everyone who goes to that place gets cursed by a witch."

Alison elbowed him. "Dunna listen to what my silly husband's sayin'," she said with a laugh. "The things this man and his cousin are always makin' up. Nuthin' but stories about witches, ghosts, Fae, and all sorts. You'd swear the hills were crawlin' with them."

Arthur smiled apprehensively. _If she only knew the truth_.

"I'm not makin' up stories, woman!" Gregory said. "My cousin's sister's friend's step-brother was cursed by that witch."

"Aye, truly a reliable source," Alison said, rolling her eyes at her husband.

Arthur bit his lip to keep from laughing.

She grabbed the slip of paper from Gregory and scanned it. "Listen lad, all you have to do is go down this street and then make a left, then a right, and then a left," she said. "Then it's just around the corner from there."

"Lad, if ya know what's good for ya, avoid that place," Gregory said, clapping a hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"Tush!" Alison said. "_**If**_ there was a witch cursin' people, they probably deserved it." She started to drag Gregory away. "Honestly. Scarin' the poor lad with stories!"

Arthur actually hoped there _**was**_ a witch at the address. His spells hadn't been working lately as well as they should, and every time he'd tried to curse someone, Alfred or France had interrupted, or Russia had appeared. Only a couple days were left until Halloween, and he just couldn't seem to concentrate; Alfred had beat him in their annual "scare-off" last year, and he needed something that would turn him into whimpering crybaby.

Last year, Alfred had nearly scared Arthur to death, wasting all of his research. Dressing as a vampire had been out; the vampire movies that had come from America were either "Mad Max"-ish, or they sparkled and induced screaming riots amongst his country's teens that rivaled any rock star concert.

As far as Arthur could tell, the things that scared America the most were ghosts (as usual) and zombies. Since he hadn't felt like he could pull off looking like a believable ghost, he had hired professional make-up artists to zombify him, then he'd sneaked into Alfred's house Halloween night.

All the lights were off and Arthur heard a scary movie playing in the study. The only light in the house came from glowing black and orange candles that were all over the house. _To set the mood_? Arthur guessed to himself.

He peeked into the study just in time to see some masked maniac or murderer on the screen chasing some screaming victims with what looked like a . . . _water pipe and faucet? Why does that seem familiar? Where's Alfred anyway? _Arthur wondered when he heard something in the kitchen. His eyes had finally adjusted to the candlelight, so he decided to not turn on any lights. It would add to the fear factor when he scared Alfred.

He wandered down the hall and peeked into the kitchen. Alfred was making himself a midnight snack. _Does he wear that bomber jacket everywhere_? Arthur thought. _Oh, right. I forgot what a pig he can be._ He shrugged and walked quietly up to Alfred, laying his hand limply on his shoulder "like a zombie" to get his attention.

America turned around, and Arthur found himself face-to-face with a bespectacled Russia. He nearly choked on his fake zombie teeth when he screamed and reeled back away from the larger nation.

"What the bloody hell?" he finally managed to choke out.

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha! You shoulda seen your face just now!" Alfred said as he came out from hiding. He still had on Texas (Russia's must have been fake). He laughed and grinned. "In fact, let me show you." He pushed a button on the camcorder he was holding and played back on the little screen a video of Arthur stumbling over himself to get away from Russia, screaming, then choking, then coughing.

"You recorded that?" Arthur said.

"Hafta. Gotta prove I got you this year," Alfred said. He stared at Arthur. "Gotta admit, though, if I hadn't seen you sneaking up the walk, that costume woulda totally freaked me out. Forget ghosts, zombies really terrify me right now."

"You will give me copies, da?" Russia said, biting into the sandwich he'd made.

"Of course! That was our deal," America replied, "and thanks for helping me make that movie to set-up the mood for Artie."

Russia smiled.

Arthur scowled. "Give me that bloody camera!" he shouted, but Alfred kept it out of his reach.

"Quick Russia, upload the video to my computer!" He had tossed the camera to Russia who had quickly run upstairs and locked the door to Alfred's "computer room". No amount of shouting or threats had retrieved the camera or convinced Alfred to delete the video.

As far as Arthur could tell, the video hadn't shown up on any of the video streaming websites yet, but Alfred liked to tease that he was going to share it any day now. He _**needed **_to get Alfred good this year, or he'd have to live with that blackmail video for decades. He cringed when he thought of any other nations seeing it, especially France; it was already bad enough that Russia had a copy of it.

_Yes. This year needs to be spectacularly scary and __**public, **_Arthur thought as he walked down the street to where Alison had directed him. He had invited all the nations he cared to ask to come to his house for a "party". He chuckled as he imagined the look on America's face when he scared him senseless in front of all the other nations. _When everyone (who matters) sees Alfred acting like the little scaredy-cat I know he is, then it won't matter if he __**does**__ share the video. I'll still win._

Arthur had decided on conjuring up a real ghost or a specter of some kind and had heard through the grapevine that Madam Ceridwen Irfon was the person to see about that. According to the source he'd used, her magic always worked, whether it was curses, potions, or good fortune spells. Scotland claimed it was how he managed to get a certain prime minister into office.

Arthur stopped at the corner of the street. He was lost again. _This doesn't make sense; I'm exactly where that Alison told me to go, _he mused. When he'd called the number Scotland had given him, he'd gotten the address from Madam Irfon herself. _I followed the directions exactly, so why can't I find the bloody place? _Normally, he wouldn't panic, but the sun was setting, and if he lost daylight, he'd never find this address.

Arthur felt a pair of eyes staring at him and whirled to his right. An attractive young woman, who looked about 19, sat on a large, overturned basket in an alley watching him. She almost blended into the shadows in her long-sleeved, black mini-dress, black tights, and black suede knee-high boots. Her hands, clothed in black gloves, were almost hidden as well. Her jet-black hair was bobbed and framed her face. Even in the dimming light, Arthur could see her eyes almost seemed more yellow-green than green. He found himself unable to look away. He couldn't recall ever seeing a person with eyes like that.

"Arthur Kirkland?" the girl asked as she hopped down from the basket.

"Y-y-yes?"

"I'm Seren. Mistress Irfon sent me to fetch you," the young woman said.

"Are you her assistant?" Arthur asked.

"Mmmm. I guess you could call me that," she said with a smile. "Come along now." She turned and walked down the alley.

"Excuse me. I think the address Madam Irfon gave me is on a street," Arthur said. "How do you propose to get there by going through an alley?"

"Those directions are only to get you to this spot," Seren said. "That address doesn't exist."

Arthur glanced at the sheet of paper and then at the numbers on the buildings. _Bollocks. She's right, _he thought_. No wonder I've been unable to get any help locating it._

"Come," Seren said, scurrying down the alley. "Keep up, or you'll get lost again."

He hurried to catch up to her.

At the end of the alley was a meter-high wall. She nimbly hopped up on it and walked along it. She stopped when Arthur paused. "Come on," she said. "It's wide enough that you won't fall."

Arthur reluctantly climbed up on the wall and walked behind her. She locked her hands behind her back, her hips swaying back and forth as she sauntered down it. Arthur couldn't place it, but her walk reminded him of something. He also noticed for the first time that her feet didn't make a normal footfall sound, only a light "pad, pad, pad" as she walked along the wall. _Must be the boots_, he thought.

Seren hopped down from the wall and looked back at Arthur. She waited until he reached her and had jumped down from the wall as well. "This way, Arthur," she said, crossing the street.

Arthur looked at where she was headed and again he stopped, unsure he wanted to continue. Seren practically danced into the church graveyard without even looking back. _How can someone be that inhumanly lithe and agile? _Arthur wondered as she almost looked like she was floating between the headstones. He felt a little uneasy going through a graveyard this close to evening.

"Hurry, I can't leave you behind," she said, leaning against a headstone as she waited for him.

Arthur hurried across the street and stayed right behind her. They reached the other side of the graveyard quickly. Seren walked down the pavement, staying in pace with Arthur this time. Then after looking both ways, she crossed the street and walked through another gate.

Arthur quickly crossed the street. Once he reached the gate, however, he froze in place.

Seren had led him to a stone circle.

There were 12 stones surrounding 4 stones, one of them larger and table-like. She calmly walked to the center of the circle and spryly hopped up on the largest stone. She sat down on it, tucking one leg under herself and letting the other drape over the stone. She help up a hand, palm down, and beckoned to Arthur in a way he'd seen Kiku motion to him to call him over.

"You have to go _**through**_ the circle in order to get to my mistress's abode," she said.

"I think I'd rather go around it," he said.

"Why?" Seren asked, smiling.

Something behind one of the outside stones cackled.

Arthur didn't dare move; whatever was over there wasn't like his friends. _Where the bloody hell are they when I need them anyway?_ he wondered.

"Tsk. That's just a hobgoblin," Arthur heard over his shoulder. He looked up to see a fairy in a red dress hovering above him and let out a sigh of relief.

"I'll get rid of it," she said as she flew over to the stone and chased something black away from the circle.

"Humph. You're no fun," Seren said to the fairy.

The fairy stuck her tongue out at her. "England is my friend," she said. "I won't have you playing tricks on him."

Seren's mouth dropped open. "I wasn't tricking him!" she said. "I merely wanted to see how he handled that goblin. It's a test to see if he can handle the magic Mistress will give him."

"And?" the fairy asked.

"Getting help from Fae doesn't tell me anything," Seren said, getting up from the stone. "But I have another way of testing him." She walked over to Arthur, scooped up his hands, and looked into his eyes. "Come Arthur," she said, her voice sounding almost unearthly.

Mystified, Arthur allowed himself to be led into the circle by the girl despite the fairy shouting for him to be careful. Seren led him up to the middle stones. He found himself feeling a little dizzy. It was twilight now, and he could barely make out her yellow-green eyes.

She hopped back up on the center stone and cupped his face in her hands. "What do you see, Arthur?" Seren asked.

Arthur shook his head slightly as he tried to focus. Seren suddenly looked very different. It took him a moment to recover from the shock. "I see a black cat with a white star shape on her forehead and yellow-green eyes," he said, staring at Seren.

She smiled. "Very good," she said. She leaned over and pecked him on the lips.

Arthur felt his legs give out beneath him, and he fell to the ground. He propped himself up and looked up at Seren, and his perception of her morphed back into a young woman. "What did you . . . ?" Arthur asked, suddenly feeling woozy.

Seren hopped off the stone table and crouched over him, pushing him onto his back and into the slightly dew-damped grass. For some reason, Arthur didn't feel frightened even though this situation should have warranted such a response. Seren kissed Arthur full on the mouth. His limbs felt numb and then they and his cheeks started to tingle.

"Arthur!" he heard the fairy scream as he lost consciousness.

* * *

**A/N**

**Fae = another name for fairies and the like**

**Seren = Welsh name for "star"**

**Cats are sometimes called "witch's assistants".**

* * *

**Sorry about the non-con/dub-con kissing between Arthur/England and my OC, Seren; I promise I have a really good reason for it in the story (part of which will be revealed in the next chapter). I also promise that from here on out, the other nations (canon) will be taking center stage (and kissing ;P … uh-huh you read right). **

**For those who are reading my "Sunshine & Rain" story, don't panic! I'm not quitting that one to start this one. I believe that I should be able to keep both going strong (it will just take me longer to update . . .sorry).**

_Also, I'll be writing a GerXfem!Ita Gakuen Hetalia AU gender-bend (quite a combo, right?) fic in the near future. I've created a sorta-Role Play style forum to help out with things like voting for Student Council, helping out with names of nations who haven't received human names from Himaruya yet. This forum (via hyperlinks or a forum button) is available on my profile. Check it out__**!**_

**If you liked what you've read, please let me know in a review. Faves and alerts make me happy and encouraged. If you have some concrit for me, please let me know as well (you can leave it in a review or PM me, I'll be happy for it either way). If you didn't like what you've read, thank you for taking the time to read this far ^_^**

* * *

Although this story is my own work, it is based off of characters from _Axis Powers Hetalia (manga & anime)_. **_Axis Powers Hetalia a_****nd its characters belong to Hidekaz Himaruya and other copyright owners.**


	2. Gather Ingredients

**A/N: Ah. Finally the US X UK interaction you've been waiting for (3/4 way through this chap ^_^ and in following chaps). Enjoy!**

* * *

**Step 2: Gather Ingredients**

When Arthur awoke, he found himself lying on a couch in a comfortable home. A fire crackled in the hearth and the scent of cinnamon, roses, and other sweet, delightful scents flowed through the entire room. Arthur stretched and yawned, then noticed that the couch was huge. In fact, everything was.

He also noticed his body didn't feel quite normal when he'd stretched, so he looked down at his hands. Only they weren't hands anymore. They were little yellow and white paws. "What the?" Arthur exclaimed, but only a "Meeww?" came out.

"Ah, you are finally awake!" a brunette woman said as she walked in. Her accent sounded Welsh, yet Arthur noted that her English was unmarred by it. A purring black cat with yellow-green eyes and a white star on her forehead smiled at him from the woman's arms. The cat jumped down, and as she did, she turned into Seren. She landed lightly on the floor without a sound.

"Dychwelyd i'r dynol," the woman said, waving her hand above where Arthur was sitting. He felt his limbs stretch and his face tickle as the whiskers disappeared. "Sorry about that," the woman said. "The only way for Seren to take you the rest of the way to my home was for you to be turned into a kitten. One of the side effects of transformation spells is kipping off. I didn't turn you back right way because you have to be awake for the reverting spell to work."

"That was both weird and fascinating at the same time," Arthur said, clearing his throat slightly and adjusting his clothes. "I didn't know your . . . erm . . . apprentice could perform such elaborate magic. You truly are amazing, Madam Ceridwen Irfon."

The woman laughed, and her violet-blue eyes sparkled with mirth. "I see, Mr. Arthur Kirkland, you are as clever as Seren said," she said, "and you don't have to be so formal. Call me whatever you wish, so long as it's not 'witch' or anything that rhymes with that word."

Arthur guessed immediately why some people in the town had been "cursed". "Well then, Ceridwen, you may also call me whatever you wish," he said.

"Even England?" Ceridwen asked.

Arthur gaped.

"Don't be so surprised," she said, laughing. "I know your older brother Wales; he is the living representation of my home after all, and as a witch, I've lived a very long time."

"Ahem! Well, in that case, I may not need your services after all," Arthur said, cringing at the thought of his brother's smirk.

"Don't worry, Arthur. Your brother does not influence me at all," Ceridwen said. "I have no desire to cause you any mischief. Not only are you a paying client, but you've also proven yourself worthy of using my magic. You saw through my Seren's transformation spell beautifully."

Seren nudged her head up under Ceridwen's hand; she patted and stroked the girl's hair. Seren smiled gratefully at the affection. "As for earlier, I hate to disappoint you, but Seren's magic ability is limited. She's unable to perform that complicated of transformation magic," Ceridwen said. "What you experienced is an overflow of the transformation spell I've put on her. Anyone she kisses becomes a kitten or a cat, depending on the image she holds in her mind."

Arthur blinked. "Oh."

"I didn't discover this myself until I noticed that some of the young men in town were turning into cats," Ceridwen said with a laugh.

_What that Gregory fellow said earlier now makes perfect sense,_ Arthur thought.

"Mistress! I keep telling you the boys kissed _**me**_, not the other way around!" Seren said, stomping her foot.

"Darling one, I'm not accusing you," Ceridwen said. "It's not your fault those boys don't respect boundaries; they _**deserved **_a few days as animals. But you wouldn't have had to learn karate if not for them."

Arthur cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to rush you, but I'd like to get what I need and get home before tomorrow," he said. "I'm running out of time to do this spell."

"Of course," Ceridwen said. "I'm sorry. I get distracted sometimes. Do you have the payment?"

Arthur handed her a little over $1,500 in US bills. "I still don't understand why you didn't want £1000," he said. "You'll have to convert this to use it."

"I have one more client after you, and then Seren, Kaydin—my dog—and I are going to the United States," Ceridwen said. "A descendant has asked me to visit. This way I don't need to convert my spending money."

"Your child is an American?" Arthur asked.

"Not child, _**descendant**_," Ceridwen corrected.

Arthur tugged at his collar; he didn't dare to ask how old she was.

"The river is named after me, not vice versa," she said, referring to the Irfon River that was nearby the town. "That's how old."

She stuffed the money into a velvet drawstring purse. "No, I can't read thoughts," Ceridwen said with a sly smile when Arthur gasped, "or can I?"

Arthur swallowed hard. "I— "

"Let's get started," she interrupted, motioning Arthur to follow her into another room. "You said over the phone that you wanted to scare the living daylights out of this friend of yours?"

"Alfred is not my friend!" Arthur protested. "He's a former charge of mine and an obnoxious associate, nothing more."

"According to you, you participate in an annual 'scare off' with this nation," Ceridwen said, "as well as participate in activities and meetings and have holiday celebrations with this nation and other nations. If it was only the meetings, I'd understand 'only associate'. But the rest qualifies someone as a rival, a lover, a family member, or a friend in my book. Which is he?"

"Friend," Arthur said immediately, "No, probably more a rival than a friend." Arthur felt a pang in his heart; family member was no longer an option for him, even if it had only been "adopted" family member.

Ceridwen smiled but didn't press further. "Well then, the kind of spell you said you wanted was one where you could control a ghost or monster of some sort and make it haunt the person of your choice, correct?" she asked.

Arthur nodded.

"That kind of spell is a little tricky," Ceridwen said. "You'll need to perform the incantation over a potion at midnight. Then you need to get the target to drink the potion. Can you handle that?"

"Of course," he said. Even when he complained about it, Alfred ate and drank almost everything Arthur gave him.

Suddenly a "Moo!" bellowed from the next room.

Ceridwen's eyes grew wide. "Excuse me for a moment," she said. "I was making darnau lleuad in the kitchen for the other client, and it appears things have gotten a little out of hand." She gathered up a velvet rope and a pile of hay. "Seren, give Arthur his spell and the potion ingredients he needs! They're marked in the spell book," she said pointing at a thick, ancient-looking book as she dashed out of the room.

"What is she making in there?" Arthur asked Seren.

"I think it translates to 'moon pies'?" Seren said.

A dog started laughing a barking laugh.

"Quiet Kaydin! Stop that cow!" came Ceridwen's shouts from the other room, followed by some crashes. "She'll ruin them if she keeps jumping like that!"

Seren looked toward the room and then at Arthur. "I should hurry and get you what you need," she said in a panicked tone. She flipped open the book where it was marked with two slips of paper. She handed one of them to Arthur.

"I'm not sure I can read this," he said. "It's written in Welsh. Could you translate it into English for me?"

"How do you expect the spell to work if it's not in Mistress's native tongue?" Seren asked. "It's her spell, after all."

Arthur held the paper out to her. "Would you please tell me how to say it then?" he asked.

Seren sighed. "I'll try, but my Welsh is really not very good," she said. "I was originally a London cat." She snatched the paper back and looked at the writing on it. "What's your target's name again?" she asked. "I have to fit it in the spell."

"It's Americ—no, that's the name of the entire country . . . his name is Alfred," Arthur replied.

Seren looked at the paper and read the words on it aloud slipping Alfred's name in at the beginning.

"Wait, repeat that again. Slowly please," Arthur said, grabbing a pen and notepad out of his jacket pocket and jotted down the words phonetically as Seren said them.

"By the way, how long did you want it to last?" she asked.

"What? I only need it for Halloween night. Why?" Arthur asked.

"Then you'll want to add 'ar gyfer noson Calan Gaeaf' to the end of the spell," she said. "If you don't say it at the end, then the spell might be permanent like my transformation spell is."

Arthur jotted down the words.

There was another crash in the kitchen. Seren looked disturbed by the noise. She looked at the other slip of paper. "Let me get you these ingredients too," she said, distractedly. "I doubt you have some of them."

She led Arthur back to a room filled with drying herbs, live plants, and jars filled with mysterious-looking things. She grabbed a bunch of little plastic bottles and measured out sweet myrtle, lilac, damiana leaves, ylang-ylang, early purple orchid, anise and some strange looking spice, each herb into its own individual bottle.* Then she put the filled bottles into a velvet bag. She continued to glance at the list and then around the room.

More crashes and "Moos" erupted from the kitchen.

"Some of the ingredients aren't here in Mistress's stockpiles," she said. She reread the list. "Ah, that's why!"

"Seren! I need you to bring the fiddle!" Ceridwen called from the kitchen. "The dish is running away with the spoon!"

_What the hell_? thought Arthur.

Seren placed the ingredient list and the velvet bag in his hands and grabbed a golden-colored fiddle from a shelf as she hurried toward the door.

"Wait! The other ingredients!" Arthur said, following her back through the spell book room.

"You can buy pomegranate juice and sugar at most grocers," Seren said. "The other ingredient is red rose petals, which is a coincidence because that will also help you go home."

Arthur raised an eyebrow.

She pointed towards the room Arthur woke up in. "Go out the front door, and to your right, you'll see a red rosebush," she said. "Even though they are dying right now, the rose petals should still work. To get home, you'll need to pick the largest rose and prick your finger with a thorn. You need the blood as a 'toll' to open the portal. Then hold the rose in your hands and walk toward the front gate. Just before you reach the gate, close your eyes and then walk through it."

"Seren!" Ceridwen called again.

"Coming Mistress!" she called, hurrying toward the kitchen. She stopped at the doorway and made eye contact with Arthur one last time. "It was nice to meet you, Arthur. You make a very adorable kitten, and I'm sure you would make a handsome tom."

Arthur felt his cheeks grow hot as he watched her leave. He heard fiddle music start to play and the dog laughing again as he walked out the door.

Everything was just as Seren said. He picked the largest rose and pricked his finger on one of its thorns. He winced as the thorn produced a bright red bead on his fingertip.

Arthur glanced around and almost fell over from shock. _Where did this dense forest come from?_ he wondered. _The town I'd just been in had nothing like this in it!_ He tried not to pay attention to the sounds flowing from the forest as he closed his eyes and walked through the gate.

Suddenly the sound of the forest disappeared and was replaced by automobile horns and city sounds. Arthur's mouth fell open from shock when he opened his eyes. The sunrise lit up Big Ben as it tolled eight o'clock in the morning.

"England! I'm so glad you're all right!"

Arthur felt little arms hug his face.

The fairy from the night before fluttered into the air. "The witch's cat told me to wait here for you and promised you'd be fine," the fairy said. "I'm glad she wasn't lying. I didn't trust her, but what choice did I have? That cat turned you into a cute little yellow and white . . ."

"Thank you for your help and concern," Arthur interrupted, smiling. That part of the adventure didn't need recounting. He scratched his cheek and thought about his long white whiskers. "Would you mind heading home without me? I sure have some people like me have arrived there, and they might need monitoring."

The fairy smiled, nodded, and then disappeared in a cloud of sparkles.

Fortunately, Arthur was able to easily find a grocer nearby who was opening up for the day. When he returned home, he found his former charge had, in fact, decided to invade. He had a pile of containers from McDonald's piled on the table and was eating some pancakes from the open container in front of him.

"Hey Artie," Alfred said as Arthur walked past him to the refrigerator, "You're up early." He stabbed a sausage with his fork and ate it quickly. "I've been thinking. You sure you want to have this Halloween party of yours? I don't know if you really want me to embarrass you in front of all of the nations you've invited when I scare you this year," he said with a grin. "I've got something really good planned this year too. You'll never see it coming."

_We'll see who embarrasses __**who**_**, **Arthur thought. He felt a smile creep up and forced it away. "Actually, I was thinking we'd put aside the whole scaring each other this year and just have a nice party," he lied as he put the pomegranate juice in the refrigerator.

Alfred narrowed his eyes. "I'll believe that when pigs fly," he said, shoveling in some scrambled eggs from a different container. "It would be too obvious for you to scare me on Halloween night, so I'm going to watch you every moment that I can."

Arthur smiled to try to hide the truth. "Come now, Alfred," he said, trying to sound as sincere as possible. "Can't we be mature this year and just have the party?"

Alfred stopped mid-bite. "Hmm. You've got a point there," he said. "A hero should be able to do that. All right. No scaring each other this year." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. _Who would he be calling this early?_ he wondered.

"Russia?" Alfred said.

Arthur cringed.

Alfred listened to Russia for a minute. "No. I've changed my mind," he said.

Arthur frowned. _How many times is he planning to use Russia to scare me? _he mused. _Well, Alfred __**is**__ the king of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Whenever he finds something that works, he uses it to the hilt._

"No, you can't. I don't care if you enjoy it!" Alfred said into the phone. He listened for a moment and frowned. "Artie and I have agreed to not do it this year . . . Well if you do, it's all you, I'm not participa— . . . No I don't think that you are invited to Arthur's party unless you promise not to do anything creepy, and that's impossible."

The voice on the other end of the line got really loud, and Alfred pulled it away from his ear.

Arthur was positive that he was hearing Russian curse words. Whether they were actual curses or foul language, he wasn't sure because he didn't recognize anything he heard.

"I hate you too!" Alfred said before hanging up on Russia. "I don't really hate him," he told Arthur, "but I don't like that big creep either. We use each other, and that works for us."

Arthur tried to smile, but this time it was difficult.

Alfred bit a piece of a bacon strip he had taken out of another container. "I think that I hurt his feelings, but I'm not sure I care," he said. He chewed thoughtfully. "Maybe you should invite him to the party? Not to scare either of us but just to let him feel included." He finished off the bacon.

Alfred looked at Arthur, then at his piles of food, and frowned. "I'm being a pig," he said. "Do you want some, Artie? I've got lots."

"Why not?" Arthur as he grabbed a strip of bacon. "Accepting your offer of breakfast is the mature thing to do after all." He took a bite of the bacon and started chewing it. The food made him realize how hungry he really was.

His former younger brother smiled. "Yeah! Acting mature is way better than trying to outdo each other all the time," Alfred said. "I kinda like it." Then he drank some orange juice he'd poured into a glass.

Arthur swallowed and the mouthful of bacon hit his stomach like a small stone. _I am not going to feel guilty about tricking him_, he told himself. _He deserves this payback_.

* * *

**A/N**

***I don't recommend mixing any of these herbs or drinking them together. I don't know what they'd do when mixed (usually you only use them by themselves), and they'll probably taste awful.**

**And yes, that whole scene at Ceridwen's was a play off of the nursery rhyme ""Hey Diddle Diddle" (a.k.a. "Hi Diddle Diddle", "The Cat and the Fiddle", or "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon"). I just couldn't help myself. ;P**

**The town I used for this story is loosely based on the real town of Builth Wells, Powys, UK (Welsh: Llanfair ym Muallt). Powys is a county that has a reputation for having the many police reports of "strange things" such as witches, werewolves and other weird things. The town lies where of the River Wye and the River Irfon meet.**

**Translations:**

**Seren = Welsh name for "star"**

**Dychwelyd i'r dynol = Revert (return) to human**

**kipping off = English slang for passing out or losing consciousness**

**darnau lleuad = moon _pieces _[remember Seren said her Welsh wasn't very good].**

**Kaydin = Welsh name for "companion"**

**ar gyfer noson Calan Gaeaf = for Halloween Night**

**If you liked what you've read, please let me know in a review. Faves and Story Alerts make me as happy as the cat that got the cream. If you have some concrit for me, please let me know as well (you can leave it in a review or PM me, I'll be happy for it either way). If you didn't like what you've read, thank you for taking the time to read this far ^_^**


	3. Mix the Potion & Cast the Spell

**Step 3: Mix the Potion & Cast the Spell**

Arthur spent most of the early evening of October 30th greeting the guests he'd invited for the party the next day on Halloween. The first nations he'd asked were his friends or nations who were or had been part of the UK: Wy, Hong Kong, Seychelles, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. He invited France (ugh) but only because he was friends with America (France had invited Prussia along, much to Arthur's chagrin).

Arthur also invited everyone else he thought might be America's friend: Finland and Sweden (who brought along that brat Sealand), Germany (and North Italy, of course), Japan, Taiwan, Spain (and South Italy), Belgium, Switzerland and his little sister, Liechtenstein, Austria, Hungary, China, Poland, and Lithuania.

"What's he doing here?" Arthur asked pointing at Russia.

Lithuania trembled and looked over his shoulder. "I had no choice but to let him come," he said.

Russia clamped a hand on his shoulder, causing the Baltic nation to jump.

"Russia's such a good friend after all. He said he'd promise not to do anything creepy or bad," Lithuania continued.

"I, like, keep telling you to leave him alone!" Poland said, running over to Russia and Lithuania. He grabbed the trembling Baltic's hand and positioned himself between Russia and Lithuania.

"I wasn't going to hurt him," Russia said.

The front door to Arthur's house burst open as lightning flashed behind the figure who opened it, silhouetting the nation at the door. Everyone let out a startled scream, except for Russia who merely smiled.

"Brother, you left me behind," Belarus said, stepping into the light inside the house. She was wearing a wedding gown and veil.

This time it was Russia's turn to let out a scream. "I didn't know you wanted to come along," he said, backing up and holding up his hands.

Arthur tried his best not to laugh.

"I want to go _**everywhere **_my future husband goes," Belarus said, smiling up at him.

Russia turned ashen, and he looked like he was about to faint.

Arthur stared. He'd never seen Russia look frightened before.

"Natalia, I keep telling you your behavior is inappropriate," Ukraine said, walking up behind her. She was dressed as a shepherdess. She started crying into a handkerchief. "I'm sorry, Ivan. I accidentally let it slip where you and Toris had gone."

Lithuania smiled at Belarus and stepped from behind Poland. "You look beautiful," he said to Belarus.

She glared at him, then looked down at her wedding gown and blushed. "I didn't dress up for you," she said. "I thought this was going to be a fancy dress party§, but it appears no one else is wearing a costume."

Everyone else looked at each other.

"Ve~ I thought so too, but isn't the party tomorrow night?" Feliciano said.

All the other nations nodded their heads.

"Wow, you look great!" Alfred said, walking up to the Russian sisters. "You sure are lucky to have such pretty sisters, Russia." He grinned and grabbed Ukraine by the hand. "Are you some sort of farm girl?" he asked.

"No, I'm Little Bo Peep," she said, holding up a plush toy lamb.

"Well you look really sexy," Alfred said, winking.

Ukraine blushed deeply.

"You look cute too, Belarus. Have you got anyone in mind with that outfit?" Alfred asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Belarus narrowed her eyes but blushed.

Russia glared and started to take out his faucet-pipe, while muttering "плейбой".

_I'd better stop this before things get violent,_ Arthur thought as he cleared his throat. "I believe I have room for all of you to stay here tonight, but please claim your room before we have our evening meal," he said, gesturing towards the entrance to the rest of his home from the front room. "Please respect any 'Do Not Enter' signs," Arthur said, looking directly at Alfred, Prussia, and France as he said it. "Those are my private rooms."

France looked offended.

Prussia shrugged.

Alfred was chatting up Belgium and Taiwan (the latter to Kiku's aggravation; although, he'd never admit it).

All the nations began filing out.

_I hope no one breaks any of my antique furniture while they're here, _Arthur thought_._ His mind wandered back to the velvet bag, and he reached into his pocket to look at the list of ingredients again.

There was an item at the bottom he hadn't been able purchase and Seren hadn't mentioned. "Piece of the moon," the pretty, script writing said. "If this is unavailable, mix the potion under the moonlight."

_There's a full moon tonight; I'll just mix the potion up by a window in my private study, _he thought. _I'll make it tonight at midnight and give it to Alfred tomorrow on Halloween morning. That way, I'll have the whole day to watch the ghost torment him. _Arthur chuckled at the thought.

After it appeared that every nation had gone to sleep, Arthur donned the cloak he wore for magic and went to the study. He pulled the cauldron he planned to use for the potion over to the window so that moonlight could fall on it. He poured the 946.35 milliliters of pomegranate juice into the cauldron and then lit three candles under it to heat it. Then he mixed in the 256 grams* of sugar the list asked for and let it dissolve into the juice. Arthur then mixed in each herb from its little plastic bottle, followed by the red rose petals from the rose he'd used the other night.

As the mixture started bubbling, Arthur stirred it and checked his watch. _Five minutes to midnight. Almost time to start casting the spell, _he noted as he picked up his notepad and flipped to the page he'd written it on. The grandfather clock in the room struck midnight, and Arthur began reciting the spell. "Alfred drawsnewid i mewn i hardd," The words echoed through the room, and the potion started glowing a pinkish-red color. "merch ddeniadol ar gyfer n—"

"Hey Artie, are you in here?" Alfred called as he threw open the door, his voice booming over Arthur's and covering up the last few words of the spell. The younger nation peered into the darkness and then flicked the light switch.

Arthur blinked at the sudden brightness from the many lamps that immediately lit up.

"Do you have an Xbox 360? Mattie and I wanna play some _Halo__,_" Alfred stated.

Arthur turned towards Alfred, his eyes wide._ How in the hell? _he thought. _I thought I'd locked that door. _

Something caught Alfred's attention above where Arthur was standing. "What the hell is that?" he said, pointing above Arthur.

Arthur looked up and saw an opaque cloud hovering above him and the cauldron. It fluctuated and glowed a pretty pink and purple color. "Um, I'm making my costume, and it required a spell?" he lied.

Alfred scratched his head. "Okay, so long as you weren't trying to cook up some spell to scare me with some monster or something," he said.

Arthur bit his lip. "You know we agreed against all that," he lied again.

"Hey Alfred, did you find out if he had one?" Matthew said, coming into the room.

The cloud glowed brighter at the sound of Alfred's name and swirled through the air toward Alfred. It smacked into him with a force that knocked him over.

"Holy crap!" Matthew said.

Arthur ran over to Alfred.

The younger nation was out cold.

"Are you all right?" Arthur asked. _Did the spell have something to do with this? _he wondered. _Was the ghost going to start haunting him after he woke up? . . . Wait . . . The potion_.

"Here Bro," Matthew said, holding a steaming teacup to Alfred's mouth.

Alfred moaned as he came to. He sniffed the liquid and then eagerly drank it. "Thanks for the coffee, Mattie," he said after finishing it and wiping his mouth. "I didn't think Artie had any in the house."

_Coffee? _"Where did you get that?" Arthur asked.

Matthew pointed at the cauldron. "That stuff smelled like coffee," he said, "so I assumed that's what it was. I found the cup on that table over there."

Arthur cringed. _That cup was one I used earlier to drink some tea this afternoon, _he thought_, but actually it's sort of amusing that Alfred just drank out of my used cup._

"What kind of costume were you making?" Alfred said, getting up. "Juan Valdez?" He laughed at his joke. "That smoke was dangerous." He laughed again and then hugged Arthur.

"Alfred . . . can't breathe . . ." Arthur managed to gasp out. _Is he trying to crush me? _he mused, feeling uncomfortable by the undertone he sensed in the hug. _Why does this feel the same as his hugs when he was frightened as a child? _

"I'm glad it hit me instead of you," Alfred whispered in Arthur's ear. "If something had happened to you, I wouldn't know what I'd do."

"What the bloody hell are you saying?" Arthur said, blushing and pushing him away. "You don't really mean that. Stop being so flippant."

Alfred released him, tears peeking at the corners of his eyes. "Do you hate me, Artie?" Alfred asked, his lower lip quivering.

"Of course I don't, but you're acting strangely," Arthur said, straightening his tie.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt," Alfred said, wiping his eyes. "Magic is dangerous. I must be okay because I'm a hero, but maybe you should go buy your costume instead of make it. You still have all day tomorrow before the party." The younger nation smiled, and then he stumbled a little. "Whoa! Um, we're going to have to cancel that _Halo_-fest, Mattie," he told Matthew. "I'm feeling a little sleepy all of a sudden."

"Even after drinking that coffee?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah, I don't get it either," Alfred said. He walked out the door and into the room he'd called "dibs" on earlier. America had found the best room in the house: the one closest to a bathroom across the hallway.

"Guess I'll go to bed too then," Matthew said. He wandered out the door and into the room he was staying in.

Arthur sighed and walked over to the cauldron. Luckily, Canada had finished what he was supposed to do after reciting the spell: give the potion to Alfred.

_Wait. Why hasn't the ghost shown up yet?_ _Did I get the whole spell out_? he mused, carefully trying to recall what had happened._ I did manage to say the whole spell, but Alfred's voice overlapped mine. Will that make a difference? _He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Madam Irfon. _Never hurts to be sure,_ he concluded.

"If you are getting this message," Ceridwen's voice said, "I'm either unavailable or on the line with someone else. Please leave your number and a message."

"Yes, this is Arthur Kirkland," he said after the message beep. "I have a question about the spell you sold to me. Please call me as soon as you can." Arthur hung up and poured the rest of the potion into a spare bottle he had on his shelf.

_Why hasn't the specter shown up yet? _Arthur wondered again_. Ceridwen's spells are guaranteed to work._ Then he remembered that Seren had specifically asked him when he wanted the spell to stop working. _Maybe it's only going to be haunting Alfred for Halloween night since that's when the spell was requested for_, he concluded, somewhat disappointed that he wouldn't be able to enjoy the whole day. _Oh well can't be helped now_.

Arthur blew out the candles and went to bed. Just before he fell asleep, Arthur thought he heard someone walking past his room toward his study muttering, "I need to get the rest of that coffee for tomorrow." A thought crossed Arthur's mind to stop whoever it was waking him up, but he was so exhausted that he drifted off to sleep before acted on that thought.

* * *

**A/N**

***946.35 milliliters = 4 cups. 256 grams = 2 cups (1 pint) for non-metric users. ;P**

**§ fancy dress party (British English) = costume party (American English)**

**Language Translations:**

**плейбой = playboy**

**I am specifically not translating "Alfred drawsnewid i mewn i hardd, merch ddeniadol ar gyfer noson Calan Gaeaf" because it's a spoiler for the next chapter. You could go to a translation machine online to find out what it means, but why do that? The next chapter is already available! Go read how the spell worked on Alfred!**

**BTW I "invited" a lot of nations to Arthur's house but not all of them will have speaking or acting roles. That's just too many "voices" and personalities to deal with. I will have quite a few who will be players in this little story though so don't worry. ;)**


	4. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo! Tada!    Oops

**Step 4: Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo! Ta-da! . . . Oops**

Alfred stretched and yawned._ Man, that was the best sleep I've had in a quite a while, _he thought_. All that nervousness over Arthur tricking me or trying to scare me is stressing me out. I still don't trust him 100%, even if nothing's happened yet._ He got out of bed and shuffled over to the coffee he'd swiped from Arthur's study last night. He poured it into a cup and set the cup on an electric coffee warmer he'd bought from some gadget shop in the States.

The liquid started steaming, and Alfred picked up the cup. He sipped it and grabbed his towel. The sun peeked into the room, touching the top of the four-poster bed and making the rich red of the curtains around it look warm.

Alfred studied the light for a moment. _It looks_ _early enough that maybe I'll beat some of the other nations to the shower, _he mused._ Even if there are a ton of bathrooms in Artie's house, I don't want to risk the hot water running out . . . This coffee sure tastes different . . . I'm really craving it, though . . . that and chocolate . . . weird._

Alfred shuffled across the hallway and shut the bathroom door behind him. He pulled off his flannel pajama top. During the summer, boxers and a T-shirt was enough, but in the fall, warmer sleepwear was necessary, especially in freezing England. Alfred heard the door open behind him and turned to see who it was.

"Wer sind Sie?" Prussia said. He looked down at Alfred's chest and grinned. "Ihre Brüste sind toll!"

"Quit staring at me like that, Gil!" Alfred yelled, punching him out of the bathroom and slamming the door. _Weirdo. Made me feel dirty the way he was looking at me. Didn't know he swung that way,_ he thought. This time Alfred made sure to lock the door. He cleared his throat. _My voice sure sounded weird just now._

Alfred shook his head and yawned; he wasn't all the way awake yet. _This English coffee isn't working,_ he mused, but he finished off the drink anyway. He turned on the shower, and after the water was hot enough, he slipped off the rest of his clothes and stepped in.

Alfred let the water pour over his head, hoping it would wake him up. He reached up and grabbed the guest shampoo/conditioner from the shower caddy hanging from the shower head and squeezed some into his hand, then replaced the bottle. Alfred closed his eyes tightly and started washing his hair.

He paused. _What the hell?_ he thought as he ran his fingers through his hair_;_ it went all the way down to his shoulders. He didn't dare open his eyes to inspect it and risk soap getting in them. _Weird. Guess the spell must have done this. I'll hafta go to the barber before the party. _

After rinsing his face, Alfred peeked an eye open and grabbed a bar of soap from the caddy and turned around to let the water from the shower head pour over his head to rinse out the shampoo/conditioner. As he felt the lather pour down his back, he started washing his arms and chest.

Alfred froze. Something didn't feel right, _**literally**_. He looked down at his chest. The soap dropped out of his hands and wedged itself over the drain. Numbly, Alfred turned around and picked up the soap, putting it back from where he'd got it. If he wasn't awake before, he was now. Alfred stared at his chest again. He felt like he wanted to scream, but all that came out was a squeak. He started touching all over his body: _Rounder, softer, missing!_

Alfred felt his head swoon, and he sat down on the shower floor. "It's just a dream, a dream, just a dream," he told himself, pinching his arm. "I'm gonna wake up any moment now." As the hot water as poured over him, Alfred noticed that his arm was throbbing in pain. _That really __**hurts**_, he thought. _Okaaaay, so it's not a dream. _He looked at his chest a third time_. Hmm . . . Gil's reaction earlier seems perfectly logical now._

Alfred sat stunned for a couple minutes as he tried to figure out what was going on. _That costume spell. That's gotta be what it was, _he thought.

He grinned. _What a fabulous spell! This is a great costume! So realistic! No wonder Artie had acted so nervous. This kind of a costume is kinda embarrassing, but a really cool and funny one at the same time_.

Alfred laughed._ I'm gonna keep it, _he decided._ Artie would've only made the spell last for today, right? Why not enjoy it?_

Alfred stood up, rinsed off his new body, and turned off the shower. He stepped out and dried himself off. He opened up a window so that the steam would pour out and wiped off the mirror.

Alfred turned his face from side to side. _Not bad, _he thought.

He touched his chest with both hands. _Gil was right. They are pretty awesome . . . not like Katyusha's, but who can compete with her? _Alfred pulled his hands away. _Geez, now I suddenly feel like a pervert, _he thought as he felt the heat from the crimsoned cheeks he saw on the face in the mirror.

He grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his body. That was when he noticed that he'd shrunk in height. This towel touched his knees when he'd wrap it around his waist. It now easily covered his whole torso and went all the way down to mid-thigh.

"That works too; I should be more modest now," Alfred said aloud. "What a great costume spell!" A breeze of cold air blew across him from the open window; he shut it and shivered. _Crap, I need to pee now . . . __Um . . . I hafta to sit down, rig____ht__?_ he thought.

After finishing, Alfred opened up the door slightly and peeked out. He could hear Prussia yelling downstairs at his brother to come up to the bathroom "before she finishes and I'll prove it to you!"

_I'm not ready for everyone to see my new costume yet,_ Alfred thought as he hurried quickly across the hall to his bedroom. Just in time too because he heard someone coming up the stairs.

After closing the door, Alfred checked himself out in the mirror again. _Damn! I look sexy!_ he thought, as he stared at his wet, shoulder-length hair and the curves of his new body, the light from the window softly highlighting them.

Alfred walked over to his suitcase and grabbed some clothes out of it. He put on clean boxers and then slipped on a T-shirt. He looked in the mirror to see how it looked. _Whoa, that's not . . . ahem . . . concealing enough, _he thought as he blushed furiously at the image in the mirror. He pulled a navy-blue sweatshirt over the T-shirt. _That's better_, he thought, nodding at his image.

Since he was now shorter, he was forced to roll up the legs of his jeans. His tennis shoes didn't fit right, so he stuffed some tissues in the toes and tied them a little tighter than usual. He found the baseball cap he'd brought with him and tucked his hair up into it so it looked short again.

_Now for the finishing awesome touch,_ he thought as he slipped on his leather bomber jacket. He examined his image in the mirror again._ Oh yeeaah . . . I look hooooot! _he thought. Grabbing his wallet and shoving it in his jeans' back pocket, Alfred searched the room until he found a collapsible ladder behind one of the window's curtains. He put it out the window and climbed down. _I need to get to some ladies' clothing store and back before anyone misses me, _he mused.

When he reached the bottom of the ladder, Alfred chuckled. _I won't be able to scare the wits out of Artie with this costume since this was his idea to begin with, but I might be able to startle some of the other nations, _he thought_. That way I can get the urge to scare someone out of my system and not break my promise._

"Alfred?" Canada said from behind him as he stepped off the ladder.

_Ah shit!_ Alfred thought. He turned around while looking down at the ground to hide his face. "Yeah Mattie?" he said, lowering his voice as much as possible.

"Where are you going this early in the morning?" Matthew asked. "And out the window too?"

"Just to the store," Alfred said. His voice was starting to hurt talking from talking at such a low pitch. "Forgot to bring a costume."

"Okay, I'll go with you. I need one too," Matthew said. "Want to go to breakfast together?"

"No! . . . I mean . . . no thanks!" Alfred replied, his voice squeaking.

Matthew didn't respond.

Alfred peeked up from under the brim of the baseball cap. _Shit, I hope I didn't hurt his feelings._

Matthew's eyebrows were nit together, and he was staring at him.

Alfred looked at the ground again.

"Al?"

"Y-y-yeah?"

"Did you shrink?" Matthew asked.

"Not really, you probably grew," Alfred said._ Lame._

"Well, since you don't want to go, I guess I'll go to breakfast by myself," Matthew said. "Too bad; England told me about this place that serves fantastic pancakes."

Alfred looked up, excited. "Do you think they can make ones with chocolate chips?" he asked.

Matthew's eyes grew wide, and he stumbled backwards onto the ground. "W-w-what happened t-t-t-to you?"

Alfred shrugged. "Artie's spell turned me into a woman," he said, matter-of-factually. "Can we go get those pancakes now?"

* * *

**A/N**

**Bwa ha ha ha! That was fun! And yes, I changed from Arthur's POV (point of view) to Alfred's POV for this chap. You'll get Matthew's next chapter, so don't get whiplash! ;)**

* * *

**Translations****:**

**[From last chapter]:**

**Alfred drawsnewid i mewn i hardd, merch ddeniadol ar gyfer noson Calan Gaeaf =Transform Alfred into a beautiful, attractive/seductive woman for Halloween night [see how it was a spoiler? XD]**

**So where's the spell Arthur paid for? . . . Wait and see.**

**Language Translations for this chapter****:**

**Wer sind Sie? = Who are you?**

**Ihre Brüste sind toll = Your breasts are great!**

**BTW According to ****_Magic Words: A Dictionary_****, "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!" are words to use specifically for transformation spells. "Ta-da!" is fanfare to indicate your spell is finished and to give it some flair.**

* * *

**Also, the ingredients for the potion all have significance:**

_**Sweet myrtle:**_** symbol of beauty and chastity**

_**Roses:**_ **associated with pure love and femininity**

_**Pomegranate: **_**symbol of fertility (or femininity)**

**_Sugar & the strange spice:_**** from the rhyme "What are Little Girls Made Of?" nursery rhyme- "sugar and spice and everything nice". ^_^ The reverse potion would be disgusting: boys are made of "bits of snails and puppy dog tails". =_=;**

___**Pieces of the Moon: **__**symbolizes woman and has been associated with various goddesses-Artemis, Diana, Hecate, and Kuan Yin (all of whom specialized in chastity, childbirth, grace, purity and so on). **_

_**Lilac:**_** symbol of first love. [hmmm]**

_**Damiana leaves:**_**used primarily as an aphrodisiac for both sexes. [um yeaaahh]**

_**Ylang-ylang:**_**has an intense floral, sweet, jasmine-like, almost narcotic sensual, euphoric aroma. It increases libido and energy between lovers and is considered one of the more powerful ****aphrodisiac scents. (on a side note, it also improves circulation, and makes the hair and skin healthy). [okaaaay . . . sensing a pattern here?]**

_**Early purple orchid:**_ **used in sex and as an aphrodisiac . ****[Heh, I guess I kinda went overboard with these XD]**

**__****Anise********: stimulates libido. ****[if you haven't guessed by now, this potion has a double purpose, which I'm not going to mention at this point; although, I think it's kinda obvious]**

**I'm slightly nervous that the shower scene upped my rating to an M or at least a T+; I don't plan on going further than what I have here, so if anyone thinks I need to change the rating, let me know. =_= I don't want to get banned for agreement violation.**


	5. Presto Chango! Clothes Make the Man?

**Step 5: Presto Chango! Clothes Make the Man . . . er . . . Woman?**

"Stop staring already," Alfred told her brother. "Do I look that strange? I guess I shoulda dried my hair at the house." Matthew had insisted that Alfred take off her baseball cap, and her hair had dried in amber-colored, wavy curls. She reached up and touched her hair self-consciously. She ran her fingers through it as if she really was trying to comb it out.

Matthew finished chewing his mouthful of pancake and swallowed hard. _Since when did Alfred care about his . . . um . . . her hair?_ he wondered. "S-s-s-sorry, it's just . . . I'm still in shock," he said. _Why aren't you? _

"Yeah, I know," Alfred said, laughing. "Who woulda thought that Artie was planning on _**literally**_ cross-dressing for his costume?"

"You're sure it was intentional?" Matthew asked. _I don't know Arthur as well as Alfred does, but I don't think that he has __**that kind**__ of a sense of humor,_ he mused.

"Yeah. He said as much before you came in and that cloud-thingy hit me," Alfred said, stuffing her mouth with more than a forkful of chocolate-chip pancake dripping with whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

"Don't eat like that!" Matthew said.

"Meeph luuk Wmphh?*" she asked through the pancake still hanging out of her mouth. Tiny pieces of pancake went flying toward Matthew. The chocolate sauce dripped down her chin, and somehow, a dab of whipped cream managed to deposit itself on her cheek.

"Like a guy," Matthew replied, feeling flustered as he heard some woman nearby whisper something about bad manners. "Like you're starving. People are staring. You need to eat like a girl. And don't talk with your mouth full; not only is it disgusting, but girls aren't supposed to do that either."

Alfred inhaled the pancake and swallowed. She wiped her mouth. "You sure they aren't staring because I'm hot?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

Matthew rubbed his forehead with both hands and groaned. _If he wasn't my brother . . ._

"Sorry, you're right," Alfred said. "So how do I eat like a girl?"

Matthew reached across the table and cut what was left of the pancakes into small, bite-sized pieces. "Eat each piece one at a time," he instructed.

Alfred frowned. "That will take forever," she said, "but I guess I need to get into my role if I'm going to pull it off." She stabbed two pieces, put them in her mouth, and then chewed them as delicately as a guy-turned-girl could.

Matthew sighed. It was an acceptable compromise. "Um, you've got something right here," he said, pointing at his own cheek.

Alfred reached up, wiped off the whipped cream, and then licked it off her finger. "Thanks, Mattie. Hey, guess what? I have some great ideas for what to wear with my 'costume'," she said, holding up her fingers to put quotation marks around the word "costume" when she meant "body". "I can't wait to buy some skirts and shit."

Matthew frowned. "You need to watch your language too," he said. "Not very lady-like."

"Yeah, I guess," Alfred replied. "Not sure I can stop that though; it's a habit of mine." She took a drink of the mocha-chino she'd ordered to go with her pancakes.

"At least try," Matthew said, "or you won't pull off being a girl at all."

Alfred nodded, but Matthew felt irritated at her response because she kept glancing off to the right at something behind him. "Hey Mattie," she whispered as she leaned forward a little, "those guys are totally checking me out." She smirked and nodded her head toward some young men sitting two tables away.

She giggled. "Of course, with your good looks and long hair, they might be checking you out," she reasoned quietly, winking at her brother.

Matthew felt his face grow hot. "Don't be silly," he said. _It's definitely you, _he thought. Even though she was dressed in jeans and a navy-blue sweatshirt over a white T-shirt, she still looked adorable. Her bomber jacket was too big for her, and her hands barely peeked out from the sleeve cuffs, making her look petite. The rolled up jeans looked trendy and fit her a little too tightly in the hips because they were designed for a guy.

_The spell must also be making her ooze pheromones_, Matthew speculated as he recalled how difficult of a time they had just getting to the restaurant. She was hit on by a guy while they were waiting for the Underground, and then while riding the Underground, another guy asked her for her number. When they asked for directions, the young man she'd asked then asked her for a date. Each time Alfred had clung to Matthew and turned the guy down.

_If the spell isn't to blame, it might just be Alfred's usual affinity to others_, Matthew mused. He hated to admit that his brother had a natural ability in which the opposite sex easily became attracted to him; although, Matthew could never figure out why. _He's such an airhead and obnoxious and loud; what makes him so attractive to them? _But then he remembered that Alfred also could be clever, generous, kind, and sensitive to others, and bit his lip. _I____s it the duality that does it?_

"Should I flirt with you, so they don't come over here?" Alfred asked quietly. "I think they're gonna."

"What?" Matthew replied loudly, crimsoning.

Alfred stood up and kissed her poor flustered brother on the cheek.

Matthew felt his whole head burn with embarrassment.

"That's right sweetie!" she said in a louder, sugary voice, sitting back down. "You'll make the best father!" She patted her abdomen.

Matthew choked. _Good Lord! What is my sis . . . no . . . brother implying? _he thought.

The young men both scowled. "Damn! She's with him?" one of them hissed to the other. They both stood up.

"I could have sworn they were siblings, man," the other said. "Wonders never cease." They paid and left.

She smiled and continued her meal.

Matthew pushed up his glasses and tried to get back to his meal. "Hey I've been wondering," he said. "Why aren't you wearing Texas?"

Alfred laughed. "Mattie, I don't need glasses to see," she said. "I use them for a totally different reason. Besides, as a girl, I think I look cuter without them. Don't you think so?" She winked.

_You are having too much fun teasing me_, Matthew thought as he finished up his meal. 

Alfred hailed a taxi as soon as they stepped outside of the restaurant. She crawled in before Matthew could protest, so he had to follow her.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

Alfred plopped onto the seat and smiled. "Victoria's Secret," she said excitedly.

The driver blinked, then stared.

Matthew blushed three shades of red. "Is there a La Senza in London?" he asked.

The driver nodded and took them over to Oxford Street.

"Oh I see!" Alfred said as the cab pulled up to the store. "I guess this is the equivalent?"

Matthew nodded and paid the taxi driver, crimsoning again.

"I never dared to go into a VS in the States," she said as she stepped out of the taxi. She grabbed her brother and dragged him over to the doors. "Well, let's go in!"

"No. Please. I'll stay out here." Matthew struggled fruitlessly against Alfred's strength as she hauled him inside.

"How may I help you?" a sales clerk said, walking up to them.

"I'd like to make these look really sexy but still natural," Alfred said, indicating her chest.

Matthew felt like he wanted to dig a hole and hide in it.

The clerk smiled.

Matthew thought he saw English pound signs flash in her eyes.

"That won't be too difficult," she said. "We have a variety of styles and colors, whether you're into lace, ribbons, satin, silk, or something a little more risqué."

"Well, I'm going to need your help," Alfred said. "I've never worn a bra before."

_I want to die, right here, right now,_ Matthew moaned internally as he face-palmed._ I can't believe what this idiot just admitted._

The sales clerk raised an eyebrow. "Never?" she said, eyeballing Alfred's chest. She cleared her throat. "Well, gravity appears to have been _**very**_ kind to you then. Let's not tempt it though . . . This way," the sales clerk said, indicating toward the fitting room.

Alfred followed her, dragging her hapless brother right behind her.

Once they reached the fitting room, the clerk looked at Matthew. "Is your boyfriend joining us?" she asked, a playful smile crossing her face.

Alfred immediately released Matthew and laughed quietly, shaking her head. "He's not my boyfriend," she said. Her cheeks turned a slight pink in color.

"Oh? So is there someone else we need to keep in mind when picking out colors then?" the sales clerk asked.

Alfred blushed more profusely, fell silent, and looked down, fiddling with the hem of her sweatshirt.

_That's a weird reaction_, Matthew mused.

"Well, let's get your size first, and then you can decide afterward," the clerk concluded.

Matthew sighed a breath of relief as the sales clerk led Alfred into the fitting room without him. He sat down in a chair nearby, obviously there for those who have to wait for their sisters, wives, and girlfriends. He tried not to listen as the clerk instructed Alfred to take off her jacket, sweatshirt, and T-shirt.

"Eek! What are you doing?" he heard Alfred say after a minute. "No, stop! I'm ticklish." Alfred started giggling.

Some customers nearby giggled and looked at Matthew. He blushed and looked at the ceiling. _I'm not with her_, he desperately wanted to tell them, but that would be more embarrassing than just bearing it.

The clerk came out of the fitting room and picked up several styles of sample bras. Matthew made a point to not try to see what cup size the woman had just picked up. He didn't want to know.

There were some shuffling noises as the clerk helped Alfred try them on."Wait . . . Now what are you doing?" he heard Alfred say. "Whoa! Watch where you're putting your hands, Lady! I'm flattered, but I don't think I'm your type. Not right now anyway."

"Don't be silly. Hold still!" he heard the clerk say. "You have to tuck them in like that, or the bra won't cup you properly . . . no, you have to adjust the straps, not the cup."

"Wow. I never knew that this would be so complicated," he heard Alfred say. "Are panties as hard to put on?"

"You mean knickers? No, they're as easy as those boxers you're wearing; only they'll look better on you than those do. If you know what colors or styles your lover likes, we can match them to any style of bra you pick," the clerk said.

_That does it! I'm out of here_, Matthew told himself as he stood up and walked over to a shelf of "Heat Me Up" plush animals§. He read the description of what they were and felt an urge to buy one; he couldn't explain why. He just had to have the reindeer one. He bought it and then he walked out the door and sat on one of the benches outside to wait for Alfred.

"Wow! That was great!" Alfred said as she walked through the door 45 minutes later. She sighed, smiling contentedly. "I felt like a princess or something. They all treated me so nicely!"

"Amelia!" the clerk called as she came out the door, looking around before spotting the siblings.

Alfred looked at Matthew, then at her. "Yes, Phyllis?" she replied.

Matthew raised an eyebrow.

"I forgot to give you the bonus item that comes with the purchase of £100 or more," Phyllis said. "A 10 milliliter bottle of Burberry's London for Women. It's a special for this month. You're lucky because today was the last day, and we only had one left." She held up a little bottle of perfume, which she slipped in a little La Senza-brand shopping bag and handed to Alfred/Amelia. "Your boyfriend is guaranteed to love it," she said, smiling. "It's the perfect scent for romantic evenings."

"Thank you so much for bringing it out to me!" Alfred/Amelia said. "I love free stuff!"

"You're welcome," Phyllis said. "By the way, your boyfriend's got great taste. All those colors looked great on you."

Alfred/Amelia blushed profusely at this comment.

Phyllis laughed at Alfred/Amelia's expression and then walked back inside the store.

"Amelia?" Matthew asked.

Alfred/Amelia let out a small laugh. "Well, I couldn't say my name was Alfred, could I?" she said. "I mean, who names their gorgeous, awesome daughter something like that?"

"Uh-huh. Okay. Who's your boyfriend?" Matthew asked.

"Not you, Mattie, that's for sure," Alfred/Amelia replied, blushing to her ears. "I told her you were my brother."

Matthew folded his arms and waited.

"Look, she kept asking about my boyfriend or lover or husband or whatever," she said, sighing dramatically. "She was _**very**_ persistent, so I just made some stuff up. I had no idea that's how women talk when trying on underwear. It was actually kind of fun."

"How can a made-up boyfriend 'have great taste'?" Matthew asked.

Alfred/Amelia looked down at her tennis shoe and toed the pavement. "I might have texted someone and asked for an opinion," she said almost inaudibly.

"Who?"

Alfred's cell phone started playing the song "London Bridge is Falling Down". She looked at the phone's screen.

"I can't answer this! It's Artie," she said, throwing her cell phone at Matthew and causing him to drop his plushie's bag. "He'll know I stole his costume if I answer with this girly voice; I don't want him to take it back."

_I guess I have no choice but to answer it, _Matthew thought as he hit the send button and put the phone up to his ear.

"Where the bloody hell are you, Alfred?" Arthur loudly yelled through the receiver before Matthew could say "hello".

Alfred/Amelia cringed and held a finger up to her mouth, shaking her head.

"M-m-my brother is unavailable right now," Matthew said, holding the phone away from his ear.

"Oh, sorry . . . um . . ."

"I'm Canada," Matthew said.

"Of course. Matthew, right?" Arthur said. "I thought you were only going out for breakfast by yourself. Where did you two go? Everyone's been looking all over for you."

"We're costume shopping right now," Matthew said. "We forgot to bring some. We'll be back as soon as we can."

"When will that be?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know. Soon, I hope," Matthew replied, glancing at Alfred/Amelia.

She picked up the bag he'd dropped and peeked inside.

"Um, Matthew, Alfred isn't acting strangely, is he?" Arthur asked hesitantly.

Matthew looked again at Alfred/Amelia. She'd fished his reindeer plushie out of its bag and was snuggling with it while giggling.

"No more than usual," Matthew lied, trying to sound indifferent to what he was seeing. "Why do you ask?"

"So he isn't acting freaked out like he's seeing something spooky?" Arthur asked.

_Why does he sound hopeful? _Matthew wondered.

"Things haven't been flying at you or anything mysterious like that?" he continued.

"No," Matthew said. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh. It's nothing," Arthur said. "See you tonight." With that, Arthur hung up before Matthew could ask any more questions.

"Weird," he said, tossing the cell phone back to his sibling and holding his hand out for the plushie.

Alfred/Amelia pouted. "Let me hold him a widdle longer, pwease?" she said, shoving her phone into her back pocket.

Matthew blinked. _Alfred really __**is**__ acting weirder than usual, but how could I tell Arthur that without spoiling the "surprise"? _he thought. "Fine. Let's hurry and get back soon_**, **__**Amelia**_," Matthew said to her. "Everyone was looking for us."

Alfred/Amelia grabbed his hand, holding the reindeer in her other arm. "Okay!" she said, smiling as they walked down the pavement. "Thanks for being so patient with me. You're the best brother a girl could have. Better than any old boyfriend, not that _**I **_would know anything about _**that**_, though."

"That reminds me," Matthew said. "Who did you text earlier?"

Alfred/Amelia froze, then released his hand and walked briskly ahead of him. "Not saying," she said. She held up her arm in the air. "Taxi!"

A taxi pulled up.

This time Matthew was able to stop her. "You'll run out of money if you keep using taxis," he said, grabbing her arm. "This isn't like New York."

Alfred/Amelia blinked and stepped away from the curb. "Sorry! Never mind!" she yelled at the driver who glared at her as his taxi took off with a screech.

"We're already in the heart of the shopping district anyway," Matthew said, pointing at all the stores.

Alfred/Amelia looked around as if she'd just noticed them for the first time. "Oh yeah," she said, laughing and scratching her head. "I guess I was thinking that I needed to go to a mall or something."

Oxford Street truly was the Mecca of shopping. Alfred/Amelia was able to find everything she had on her mental list and a whole bunch of items she hadn't thought of, but suddenly needed.

_Did she always like shopping? _Matthew mused._ Alfred is the type to only like shopping for sports equipment, video games, DVDs, gadgets and stuff like that, right?_

"Hey Mattie! What about this one? Does it look cute on me?" she asked.

Matthew looked up from the chair he was slumped in. It had been several hours. Fortunately, they'd stopped for lunch; otherwise he would be tired _**and**_ hungry. Somehow Alfred/Amelia had managed to "sniff out" a burger restaurant called Eagle Bar Diner, but instead of chowing down on her usual meal of choice, she'd eaten 4 hot-dogs and some fries.

Alfred/Amelia twirled around. She was wearing a white with yellow polka-dots wrap dress, designed like a 1940s-style dress.

Matthew furrowed his brow. The bodice had a weird undertone to it, as well as the part below the belt. "Al . . . Amelia . . . what . . ." he trailed off when he realized what was wrong. He stood up and walked over to his sibling. "Is the underwear you chose to wear from La Senza plum in color?" he whispered.

Alfred/Amelia didn't have to answer; her blush said it all. She covered her arms over her chest. "What'll I do?" she asked, panicking. "I really like this dress, but I don't want everyone to see my undies!" Alfred/Amelia looked like she was about ready to cry.

Matthew scratched his head. _It might just be me, but it seems like she's getting weirder and weirder as the day's progressing_, he thought. _One moment she's acting almost super-feminine and then the next moment she's back to "normal"_.

The sales clerk, who was helping them, placed a hand on Alfred/Amelia's shoulder. "You have two choices, dear," she said. "Wear white underwear, or some shape-wear that doubles as a slip."

Alfred/Amelia blanched. "I didn't buy any white underwear," she said.

The clerk smiled. Matthew wished his sibling wasn't so open about certain things. She was making the commission too easy to earn. "Come with me," the clerk said, guiding Alfred/Amelia over to the lingerie section.

Matthew reluctantly walked with them. He touched Alfred/Amelia on the arm to get her attention. "Aren't you spending quite a bit for a nation in a recession?" he asked quietly, pointing at the growing pile of shopping bags. "I mean, you've already bought a bunch of clothes and shoes, not to mention that jewelry earlier that looked very expensive." His sibling laughed, and Matthew was taken aback._ Is it just me, or is her laugh starting to sound more feminine than it usually does?_

"I'm not using my country's money to pay for all this," Alfred/Amelia said. "This is all my personal money. I've saved and invested a lot over the years." She held a finger up to her lips and winked. "But I won't tell you how much I have."

The clerk helped Alfred/Amelia pick out shape-wear that worked best with most of the dresses she had purchased.

"Well, that's enough for today," Alfred/Amelia said, checking her cell phone for the time and then shoving it back in the "free" purse she'd received for some of her purchases earlier. She went back to the changing rooms to put back on the feminine sweater and jeans she'd gotten at the second store they'd visited. The sweatshirt and other pair of jeans had been put into one of the bags. The bomber jacket, however, remained part of her outfit. "After I buy these, let's start heading back," she said, holding up the dress and shape-wear. "You still need to get your costume, and I need to find materials for a torch."

"You can find torches at the drugstore on the corner outside this shop," the clerk said as she rang up the items.

"Really? Weird," Alfred/Amelia said. "Would there be green paint there too?"

"What would you need the green paint for?" the clerk asked, looking perplexed.

"To paint the torch," Alfred/Amelia said. "It has to be green."

The clerk raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure you can find a torch in green," she said, chuckling.

"Oh. Cool," Alfred/Amelia said. "You Brits think of everything."

When they got to the drugstore, Matthew picked out an Iron Man costume for himself while his sibling asked about torches.

"Mattie look!" she called as she ran up to him with a green one in her hand. "It's a flashlight! Who knew it had another name?"

_I knew_, thought Matthew. "Great!" he said instead. "Then we're finished?"

Alfred/Amelia nodded her head. "I can't wait to see the look on everyone's face when I show up at the party," she said to Matthew after hailing a taxi and loading the bags in the trunk; riding the Underground would have been too difficult. "I still need another opinion, though, about which outfit will best fit the theme I'm going for, so I guess I'll have to spoil the surprise for Artie, unfortunately."

"You aren't going to ask one of the other women?" Mattie asked.

"Well, this 'costume' was originally Artie's idea, remember?" Alfred/Amelia said. "He's the only one who'll believe me when I tell him that I'm [Alfred]." She said her male name more quietly so that the driver couldn't hear it.

"My costume's theme is going to help the others recognize me," she continued, "but I could have Artie convince them if they don't 'get it'. That's the other reason I need to ask him: he knows me better than anyone else besides you. If they don't know who I am, what's the point in staying like this to freak them out?"

They reached the house, and the driver helped them unload the bags.

Matthew grabbed as many bags as he could hold while his sibling paid the taxi driver. "Are you going to sneak back in the way you came?" he asked.

She nodded. "If the ladder's still there," she said. "Otherwise, I'll need to put my baseball cap back on and try to sneak past everyone. Maybe you could distract them?"

_Did you forget who you're asking_? Matthew thought. _I'm lucky if they remember my name or don't mistake me for_ _**you. **_"I'll try my best," he said.

Alfred/Amelia grinned a winning smile and flashed him a thumbs-up. "That's the spirit, Bra! I'm counting on you," she said.

"Al, I said this before about your costumes, but I still think you shouldn't go with the first one you bought," Matthew said.

"Why? Because it's too cold to wear it?" Alfred/Amelia asked.

Matthew shook his head. "I just don't think that some of the nations will be able to handle it," he said.

Alfred/Amelia laughed. "You're such a prude," she said. "Okay. I'll think about it. Maybe Artie can tell me if he thinks it's too much."

"I think he'll agree with me," he stated.

Alfred/Amelia got a mischievous look in her eyes. "Well, see," she said. She glanced over at her bedroom window and scooped up several bags. "Cool! No one's removed the ladder yet. Could you take the rest to my room? I think I can only handle these ones."

_This is all your crap! Take more than one trip!_ Matthew thought. He let out a big sigh. "Sure," he said instead.

* * *

**A/N**

**10 milliliters = 0.33 ounces (approximately). Yes I know some might say that's too generous of a "sample/free" bottle, but she spent $160+ for crying out loud. **

**Translations:**

**Presto Chango! ="Change at Once!" used for a change occurring suddenly and as if by magic**

***That's mouth full of food for "Eat like what?"**

**§Huggable stuffed animals filled with wheat and lavender and guaranteed to help with "pain relief" (if you know what I mean).**

**Torch (British English) = Flashlight (American English)**

**I'm going to list the ingredients for the potion again, to re-emphasize their significance (plus it explains some things mentioned in this chapter):**

**_Sweet myrtle:_ symbol of beauty and chastity**

_**Roses:**_ **associated with pure love and femininity**

**_Pomegranate: _symbol of fertility (or femininity)**

**_Sugar & the strange spice:_ from the rhyme "What are Little Girls Made Of?" nursery rhyme- "sugar and spice and everything nice". ^_^ The reverse potion would be disgusting: boys are made of "bits of snails and puppy dog tails". =_=;**

**_Pieces of the Moon: _symbolizes woman and has been associated with various goddesses-Artemis, Diana, Hecate, and Kuan Yin (all of whom specialized in chastity, childbirth, grace, purity and so on).**

**_Lilac:_ symbol of first love**

_**Damiana leaves:**_ **used primarily as an aphrodisiac for both sexes [yup, Matthew was right] **

_**Ylang-ylang: **_**has an intense floral, sweet, jasmine-like, almost narcotic sensual, euphoric aroma. It increases libido and energy between lovers and is considered one of the more powerful aphrodisiac scents. (on a side note, it also improves circulation, and makes the hair and skin healthy).**

_**Early purple orchid:**_ **used as an aphrodisiac [boy, oh boy; why are there so many of these? What do you think? Hmmm?]**

_**Anise:**_ **stimulates libido [Poor America and anyone who comes across him . . . er . . . her; BTW the potion hasn't kicked in at full strength yet]**

**=_= I didn't mean to go on so long about the clothing and stuff, but it was so much fun to imagine how a guy might react to all the things we girls have to do when buying things like underwear (it's such a surreal experience even for us women) that I couldn't help myself. Sorry if it's not accurate, men. I wish I knew how you guys think but I don't; I've asked my brother, but he wasn't much help. I hope it was fun for you to read anyway. (^_^);**

**So I'll reveal America's costume choices, who she texted, and Arthur's reaction in the next chapter.**

**_Also, I'll be writing a GerXfem!Ita-centered Gakuen Hetalia AU Gender-bend (I know, quite a mash-up, eh?) fic in the near future. I've created a sorta-Role Play style forum to help out with things like voting for Student Council and helping out with names for nations who haven't received human names yet. _****__****Please check out my profile for the current poll and links to the forum (come play with me? I'll greatly appreciate it).**


	6. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo! Tada! Pt2 Bollocks

**A/N Please note that the page/line break inside this chapter signifies a Point of View (POV) change. I tried to make it obvious that it was from another character's perspective, but just in case . . .**

* * *

**Step 6: Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo! Ta-da! (Part II) . . . Bollocks**

"Quit staring at me like that, Gil!"

"CRASH!"

Arthur rolled over in bed and buried his head in his pillow. _I'm beginning to regret inviting all these nations to my house, _he moaned internally.

A door slammed. _So__unds like Prussia has made Hungary angry at him again_, Arthur thought as breathed in the smell of feather down.

He still felt hung-over from staying up past midnight the night before. He sat up and then grabbed his slippers and dressing gown. He needed to tell them to keep it down if only for the sake of his antique furniture (though it would be nice if he could rest a little longer).

He opened the door to find Prussia crumpled on the floor in front of the lavatory. "Prussia, what did you do this time?" he asked.

Prussia wiped the blood from his mouth and scowled. "That Fräulein is crazy," he said, standing up and pointing at the door. "I vas just going to use the toilet vhen she flashes me. She acted like it vas no big deal to be standing there half-naked, but then she suddenly punches my awesome face just for looking and being appreciative."

"Did you knock before entering?" Arthur asked.

Prussia blinked. Apparently, he had not.

"Then you deserved a punch in the mouth," Arthur concluded. "There are first-aid kits in all of the _**seven other**_ lavatories in the house. Some ibuprofen and ice from the freezer will help reduce any swelling. Try to keep it down." He yawned and walked back into his bedroom, not caring if Prussia followed his advice or not.

Arthur shuffled back over to his bed and then snuggled back under the blankets, still in his dressing gown. He closed his eyes and tried to fall back to sleep, and probably would have, but his stomach wouldn't let him. He had caught a whiff of breakfast when he'd opened the door and was now feeling peckish. Because he didn't want to be troubled with all the work, Arthur had hired a chef for the whole day of the party, and the food smelled too tempting to resist. He threw back the covers with a groan and got dressed.

When he arrived in the dining room, several nations were already eating. He poured himself some tea from a teapot already on the table and looked around the room for an empty seat. Prussia emerged from the kitchen with an ice bag pressed against his mouth, followed by the hired chef.

"Good morning sir, what type of breakfast would you like today?" the chef said to Arthur.

Arthur could smell freshly baked bread, eggs, sausage, bacon, and many other delicious smells. He looked around and saw that the cook was preparing according to the nation's preference. Kiku even had a traditional Japanese breakfast. _This guy's worth every penny_, Arthur thought. "Full English breakfast, please* . . . um," Arthur said.

"Call me Gordon, yes?" the chef said, "Excellent choice: the tomatoes are especially fresh and ripe. What kind of juice?"

"Orange juice, please," Arthur replied.

The chef nodded and left for the kitchen.

Arthur sipped his tea and sat down in a vacant chair. Several nations were chatting happily with each other as they ate their breakfasts.

"I'm telling you Ludvig, this chick is ein Ungeheuer," Prussia complained loudly to Germany over the others' noise. "She punched me out of the bathroom, not pushed, _**punched**_. A hot blonde like her shouldn't be able to do that. She's hella strong whoever she is. "

"You've never been punched vhen you didn't deserve it, Bruderherz," Ludwig said, biting into some toast.

Prussia spouted a few German curse words at his little brother.

Chef Gordon brought Arthur his juice and set down another nation's breakfast.

"Thank you Gordon," he said as he sipped his juice and reached for a piece of fruit from the basket in the center of the table.

"I'll be out with your breakfast in about 10 minutes," Chef Gordon said, returning to the kitchen.

Arthur took another swallow of the juice.

"Um excuse me," a quiet voice said from Arthur's right.

He choked on his juice and turned toward the voice. An Alfred look-alike stood next to him. Arthur wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Hello . . . um . . ."

"I'm Matthew," the look-alike said.

Arthur laughed and scratched his head. "Of course you are. Sorry," he said.

"I'm insulted every time you forget who he is," France said from across the table. "He is my darling Canada, after all."

"Shut up, Frog! Can't you see I'm talking to . . . um . . .?"

"Matthew."

"Right. Matthew here?" Arthur said, crimsoning slightly about having forgotten his name again so quickly. "What did you need?"

"I was trying to order some pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast," Matthew said, "but your chef says that you don't have any in the house."

"Oh. Well, I don't get many requests for that stuff," Arthur said. He stood up and walked over to the cork-board above the phone. "There's a restaurant nearby that serves excellent pancakes. It's 30 minutes by foot, but only 15 minutes by Underground if you take it from the station nearest to my house. I think they even cater to American taste buds." He handed Matthew a card with the address on it.

"I'm Canadian," Matthew said, looking slightly upset.

Arthur stared for a moment and then laughed. "Sorry about that," he said, embarrassed, "but you both eat pancakes with maple syrup, right?"

"Sometimes Al doesn't," Matthew said. "Sometimes he eats them with fruit, jam, powdered sugar, whipped cream, peanut butter—"

"Speaking of which, where is your brother?" Arthur asked, glancing around the room. "You would think he'd be the first one down here."

"Sometimes he likes to shower before breakfast," Matthew said quietly, as he slipped on his light green hoodie. He patted his jeans pockets. "Wallet . . ." he said quietly.

"Does anyone know where America is?" Arthur asked the gathered group, ignoring Canada again.

The quiet nation scowled and left the dining room.

"It's, like, in the Western Hemisphere, right?" Hong Kong said, smirking.

Several nations snickered.

"Arsehole," Arthur said. "You know what I meant. Has anyone seen him?"

All the nations shook their heads.

Arthur stood up and looked in the other rooms where he heard some other nations talking. They were lounging around the den, sitting room, and lounge. The TV squawked the news in the lounge, but America wasn't among the nations watching.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you! She isn't anyone ve know!" Prussia yelled as Arthur walked back into the dining room. "Come upstairs vith me before she finishes, and I'll prove it to you!"

"Fine. I'll go see who this mysterious girl is, if only to be left alone so that I can finish my breakfast," Ludwig said.

"I'll come with you," Arthur said. "I am the host, after all, and may need to apologize for Prussia to whomever he ogled." As he led the two nations up the stairs, he heard a door open and close. They reached the top of the stairs just in time to see the door to the bathroom close. The group gathered around the door. Arthur hesitated for a moment and then knocked.

"Yes?" a female-sounding voice asked on the other side.

"May we disturb your privacy for a moment?" Arthur asked.

The door lock clicked, and a blond head poked out. "Like, what do you want?" the nation said.

Prussia pushed the door open.

Poland shrieked and covered his bare chest. "What the hell do you think you're doing? I totally didn't say come in!" He pushed Prussia out of the room and slammed the door shut, locking it again.

"So mystery solved," Ludwig said, turning to go back downstairs. "You mistook Poland for a girl. He fits your description of her perfectly."

"That isn't who I saw!" Gilbert protested as he watched his brother disappear down the stairs. He turned and smacked a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Be honest vith me. You had your girlfriend over, ja?" He grinned.

"Are you insane?" Arthur said, pushing Prussia's hand off. "Having the chef and his assistant here is already a big national security risk. If they hadn't signed a privacy contract not to talk about whatever went on here, they wouldn't even be here."

"You don't have to hide it from me," Gilbert stated. "I have girlfriends stay overnight at my place all the time. Come on, you can tell me. It'll just be between us. You've got excellent taste by the vay. Ve like the same type of voman. That Fräulein had all the right curves in _**all**_ the right places."

"You really _**do**_ deserve those punches," Arthur said. "I'll say it again: I didn't have a girlfriend over. You probably walked in on Belgium, and you need to apologize to her."

"Fine Bro, keep saying that," Prussia said, shrugging and heading downstairs, "but I know for a fact Belgium vas already downstairs vhen I voke up this morning."

Arthur stopped at Alfred's door before heading downstairs to eat his breakfast. "Hurry up or the kitchen will be closed for the morning, you git!" he called through the door before heading down.

No one noticed as Canada slipped out the back door.

It had been almost 45 minutes since Arthur had called Alfred to breakfast, and even Poland managed to arrive and finish a breakfast. America never showed up. Arthur finished off the rest of the now-cold baked beans and tomato from his breakfast and left the plate for the chef's assistant to clear. He walked slowly upstairs, perplexed.

_It's unusual for Alfred to skip a meal. __Perhaps he's sick? _Arthur wondered as he knocked on the door. "Alfred? Are you all right?" he asked through the door.

Silence answered.

He bit his lip. _Did the spell from last night have some unfavorable consequences? _Arthur wondered as he tried the doorknob. _Hmm? It's locked?_ He pulled out his master key and unlocked the door.

He looked around the empty room. Clothes cluttered the floor, and the bed was haphazardly made up. _Nothing I taught him has ever sunk in_, Arthur thought as he picked up the clothes and put them in the open suitcase on the dressing table.

_Wait a minute . . . The door was locked, but the room's empty?_ Arthur's heart jumped to his throat. _The spell. What did it do to Alfred? Perhaps when Alfred interrupted the spell, it . . . _he thought. "Alfred? Are you in here?" he called tentatively. "I can see spirits, so come out now!"

"What are you doing?" France said from behind him.

Arthur turned around and laughed. "Just trying to find Alfred," he said.

"Well he obviously isn't here, no?" France said. "Perhaps you should check somewhere else?"

Arthur sighed. "He's completely disappeared," Arthur said, tugging at his collar, "and for him that's quite a feat. He's not . . . um . . ."

"Canada?" France offered, looking slightly perturbed.

"Right," Arthur agreed.

France stroked his chin. "You are right. Amérique not garnering for ze center of attention _**is**_ unusual," he said. "I shall ask ze other nations to look around zis house of yours for him, and zen we will spread out ze search to ze neighborhood, yes?"

"Yes, do that. Could you send some of them up here to help me check the bedrooms?" Arthur said, reaching for his cell phone. He dialed Madam Irfon's number again.

"I'm sorry I'm currently unavailable for the day," Ceridwen's voice said. "I'm celebrating Samhaon, and I'll be unavailable all day until tomorrow afternoon. Please leave your number and a message."

"Yes. Arthur Kirkland again," Arthur said. "If I don't finish reciting the entire spell or I'm interrupted, will that affect how it works on my target? I think I may have turned Alfred into a ghost or worse. Please call as soon as you get this; it's urgent." He marked the message urgent and hung up.

Australia, Wy, and New Zealand came up and helped search the bedrooms with Arthur. After 15 minutes of searching every bedroom, no one discovered the missing nation.

"Let's go down and see if France and the others have had any luck," Arthur said. The other nations headed downstairs. Arthur's stomach felt like it was in knots as he followed them.

"Mon ami, no one has found Amérique," France said as Arthur entered the den downstairs. France spoke to the three nations who came down with Arthur, and they grabbed their coats and left.

France walked over to Arthur. "I have dispatched groups to the closest McDonald's restaurants to your house and to other places he might go to," he said. "Four of us are staying here with you as team leaders . . . I'm sure we'll find Amérique soon."

"Thank you France," Arthur said quietly.

"What was zat? Pourriez-vous ce répéter?" A big grin spread across France's face as he leaned in closer to Arthur to hear better.

"Sod off, you barmy wanker!" Arthur said, pushing him away.

"Ah that's the Angleterre I know," France said, smiling as he answered his cell phone.

Arthur sank into a nearby chair. He loosened his tie and sighed._ If Alfred really is a ghost right now, no one will be able to "find" him, _he thought gloomily. _Although, it is highly possible that he'd be haunting a McDonald's right now._ Arthur rubbed his chin as he considered the thought.

"Hey France," Arthur asked when France got off his phone. "Has anyone noticed any poltergeist-like hauntings around the house? Or at any of those restaurants?"

"Que dites-vous? Not that I know of," France said. "Why do you ask?"

"Well . . . um . . . no reason," Arthur said, looking away nervously. "The United Kingdom is known for haunted buildings and ghosts, so just tell everyone not to panic . . . but could you also have them report to me if they do see a poltergeist or strange things."

"I will, mon ami," France said, as another call on his cell came through. "I'll be in ze lounge, and Russia is in ze sitting room if you need either of us." He took the call and walked out of the room.

Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. _You already told yourself you weren't going to feel guilty_, he told himself. _Too late to start now. What's done is done. _He glanced around the den. The only nations in the room were Hungary, Japan, and himself. He could hear Russia and France talking on their cell phones in the other rooms.

Arthur started watching Kiku because the Japanese man was going through a myriad of expressions while he read and sent texts on his cell phone: confusion, amusement, frustration, amusement again. Kiku squinted at the screen of his phone and then got a surprised look on his face; he blushed immediately afterward and texted something, then got a sly, mischievous look and typed something again into his cell phone while still blushing. Kiku then looked guilty as he read the next reply.

Another text came through, and Kiku's brow furrowed in a worried expression. He texted a reply and looked relieved when he read the other person's reply after it came in.

_Who could possibly be generating all those emotions out of someone as usually stoic as Kiku? _Arthur wondered.

Kiku looked at him with a mischievous and (this time) amused expression."Asa-san, will you answer a question without asking the reason why I'm asking?" he asked Arthur.

* * *

"Kiku, what colors look good on me?" Alfred texted to Japan.

Kiku's brow furrowed. _Why would __Alfred-kun__ be asking such a thing? Especially after he's worried everyone this morning?_ he thought. "Everyone is looking for you. Where are you?" he texted back. "And why are you asking such a question?" A couple of minutes passed while Kiku waited for the answer.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry anyone. I went costume shopping, and I thought I'd be back before anyone noticed . . . and I don't know which colors look good on me, that's why," came the reply.

Kiku smiled. _Alfred-kun__ is being evasive now, probably trying to hide what his costume is,_ he mused. "I've always thought you looked good in royal blue, warm browns, and black," Kiku texted to Alfred, "but I have to say, this is the weirdest thing you've ever asked me."

A minute later, the next text buzzed in. "Those colors aren't very exciting," Alfred replied.

Kiku furrowed his brow again. "Why do you need 'exciting' colors? What are you going to use them for?" he texted back quickly.

"Nothing special," came the quick reply.

Kiku laughed to himself and shook his head._ Silly Alfred-kun._ "Then how do you expect me to help you?" he quickly tapped into his phone.

A couple more minutes passed after the message had been sent before a reply came back. "Do you promise not to freak out or tell anyone if I tell you a secret?" Alfred texted. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to text you."

Kiku smiled. "Why?" he texted back to him.

"Because," came the quick reply.

"All right. I promise," Kiku texted, smiling. _Both you and Arthur-san make too much of this Halloween business_, he thought.

After a minute, Alfred sent a picture text. Kiku waited for it to download and then opened it. A cute blonde with shoulder-length hair, clear blue eyes, and a winning smile appeared on the screen.

"This is how I look right now," the text message with the picture said. "Arthur accidentally cast some spell on me that turned me into a woman. Great costume, huh?"

_Is doing such a thing even possible_? Kiku thought as he read the message. He stared again at the picture. _Wait. What is Alfred-kun wearing_? The now male-turned-female nation had on what looked like a light blue bikini top.

Kiku squinted to examine the picture more closely and saw that it also had dark blue ribbons and lace on it. _That's no bikini top_. He felt the heat rise in his face.

He quickly hit the reply button. "What are you showing me?" he texted. "You aren't dressed!"

"What! ? Delete that right now!" Alfred texted back. "I didn't check the pic before sending. I thought I'd held the camera high enough so that the bra I was trying on wouldn't show."

Kiku hesitated. He wanted to respect his friend's wishes, but this was also a fantasy he'd had once or twice (even if he was unwilling to admit it). He quickly sent the picture to one of his secure email accounts, then deleted it from the phone's memory. "It's no longer on my cell phone," he texted Alfred.

"What a relief! Thanks buddy," Alfred texted back.

Kiku felt a small pang of guilt but decided to deal with it when he got home and checked his email. _**Maybe**_ he'd delete it completely then.

Another text buzzed in. "So if you were my boyfriend, what colors and styles of underwear would you want me to wear?" Alfred had written.

Kiku's brow furrowed. _Was this __Alfred-kun's__ idea of being subtle? _"When you ask that question, you aren't really thinking of _**me**_, are you?" he wrote back.

A minute passed before he got a reply. "No, sorry," Alfred texted, "I don't see you that way."

"It's all right," Kiku wrote back, sighing a breath of relief. MeiMei came into his mind. "I like someone else already anyway."

Kiku suddenly knew the best place to get the answer to Alfred's question. He smiled mischievously and looked over at Arthur. "Asa-san, will you answer a question without asking the reason why I'm asking?" Kiku asked him.

Arthur nodded, looking confused.

"What are your favorite colors?" he asked Arthur.

* * *

_What a weird question to ask at a time like this_, Arthur thought, but he kept his promise to Kiku not to ask why. He thought about it for a minute. "I've always liked a leafy or forest green, royal plum, red, and blue," he said finally.

Kiku started tapping the answer into his cell phone.

"I'm dying of curiosity now," Arthur said. "You're sure that you can't tell me why you asked me that?"

Kiku shook his head, hitting the send button. "I'm sworn to secrecy," he said.

Arthur scowled. He knew he'd get nothing out of the nation. Kiku prided himself on being the king of keeping secrets. Arthur brooded for a few minutes when some of the other nations walked through the den's entrance. It had been about 20 minutes since they'd all left.

"Has anyone found Alfred yet?" China asked as he sat down in a chair. "The Asia team failed to locate him."

Arthur noted that the nations who'd returned were Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China. _That simpleton France divided them up by region_? he thought, laughing to himself. _Well, perhaps they are the ones who have been texting Kiku._

MeiMei took off a shoe and rubbed her foot. "I hope we find him in time for the party," she said.

Kiku looked guilty, and noticing that reaction, Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we struck out," Spain said as his group—Germany, North and South Italy, and Seychelles—came into the room.

"Why don't all of you check in with . . . France?" Arthur guessed.

Germany nodded.

In the next 15 minutes, the next two groups filed in and reported to the leaders assigned to them—Russia and Hungary: Nothing.

"We were supposed to report to you sooner, mate," Australia said, as he, Wy, and New Zealand walked into the den, "but I forgot to get your cell number. Doesn't matter though: No success finding the Yank."

"So what does this mean?" China asked. "We spread out farther?"

MeiMei groaned and sat back in her chair.

Kiku turned ashen when he saw this.

"Asa-san, please look at my text messages inbox," he said, handing his phone over to Arthur, "but don't look at any of the messages' contents." All of the most recent messages were from "_Alfred-kun"_.

"Why didn't you bloody tell us about this earlier?" Arthur asked.

Kiku snatched back his phone and looked down. "He made me promise to keep our conversation secret," he said. "I've been trying to think of a loophole to the promise for the last 15 minutes."

Arthur whipped out his cell phone and called Alfred. He heard the phone connect after three rings. "Where the bloody hell are you, Alfred?" Arthur loudly yelled before Alfred could say "hello".

There was a pregnant pause on the other end.

"M-m-my brother is unavailable right now," a soft voice said finally.

_What the hell? That's not Alfred, _Arthur thought. "Oh, sorry . . . um . . ."

"I'm Canada," the voice said.

_That's right: he's the only nation missing besides Alfred, _Arthur noted._ Why hadn't anyone noticed?_

"Of course. Matthew, right?" Arthur said. "I thought you were only going out for breakfast by yourself. Where did you two go? Everyone's been looking all over for your brother."

"We're costume shopping right now," Matthew said. "We forgot to bring some. We'll be back as soon as we can."

"When will that be?" he asked.

"I don't know. Soon, I hope," Matthew replied.

_So "we" means that Matthew can see his brother, right? _Arthur thought. "Um, Matthew, Alfred isn't acting strangely, is he?" he asked hesitantly.

Another pause came through the phone, this time a little longer than the first. "No more than usual," Matthew said, his voice rising slightly. "Why do you ask?"

"So he isn't acting freaked out like he's seeing something spooky?" Arthur continued, hoping the spell had kicked in correctly. "Things haven't been flying at you or anything mysterious like that?"

"No," Matthew said, sounding confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh it's nothing," Arthur said quickly. "See you tonight." With that, he hung up the phone before Matthew could ask any more questions.

"Did you find them?" France said.

"Yes. Everyone, thank you; you can relax now," Arthur said. "That idiot left without telling anyone. He's with his brother, Matthew. They said they'd be home in time for the party."

Everyone left the room to go eat, relax, or get his or her costume ready. Arthur carefully tried to recall his and Seren's conversation. She'd asked him when how long he'd wanted the spell to last, and he remembered that he'd specifically said he needed it only for Halloween _**night**_.

_So that must mean the ghost will appear once the sun sets, which means he'll see it at the party_, Arthur thought. He smiled to himself. _Perfect._

"America needs punishing when he gets back, da?" Russia said.

Arthur jumped. "That won't be necessary, Russia," he said, laughing nervously. "I have a feeling he'll be punished tonight anyway."

Russia looked disappointed but then left the room quickly when he heard Belarus looking for him.

Lunchtime passed, and the two North American nations didn't return. Arthur hoped he was right about the ghost appearing that evening. He didn't want to miss any of the expressions or reactions Alfred had to it.

_Did those two get lost in London_? Arthur thought as he laid out his costume to air it out. He hadn't worn this outfit in a while. _I don't know about Matthew, but I don't think Alfred likes shopping that much unless it's for some gadget, movie, or something like that. What kind of costume could take this much time to put together_? No amount of bargaining could get any information out of Kiku about the texting conversation he'd had with Alfred either, not even after Arthur offered to fix it so that MeiMei would be paired up with Kiku for any games they played.

"I will trust Benten-sama to reward me for my efforts of remaining as true to my promise to Alfred as possible," Kiku had said.§

Arthur decided it would be best to hang up the coat to his costume in his private bathroom and steam it a little to get out some of the wrinkles. He turned on his garment steamer/cleaner and started working out the wrinkles. The steam caused the smell of gunpowder to waft up from the garment.

Arthur frowned. _I could have sworn I'd cleaned it thoroughly the last time I used it, _he thought. _Well, maybe if it aired out well enough . . . no, better take some other precautionary measures._

When the wrinkles finally were gone, Arthur grabbed a fabric freshener spray and lightly sprayed it over the coat and then the rest of the clothes. He decided he would also wear his favorite cologne just to be on the safe side. He didn't want anyone to speculate about when he last used this outfit; it had just been two years ago and only for show. He hadn't used it for its original purpose in many, many years, but no one would believe him if they smelled those traces of the past.

He dug through his walk-in wardrobe until he found the hatbox he was looking for. He carefully pulled out the hat inside. It still looked as good as new despite the many years he'd owned it. _Now all I have to do is find the shoe polish, and I can finish the final touches, _Arthur thought, smiling. _Even if this might get some comments from France and Spain, it's one of my favorite outfits all the same_.

Around afternoon tea, Canada came in the front door with his arms loaded with what looked like a dozen large bags and half a dozen smaller ones. None of the nations eating or talking offered to help, but it seemed like Canada wasn't expecting any assistance.

Arthur only noticed him because he'd been sitting in the front room waiting for the two brothers to return. He raised an eyebrow when he looked at the bags. He didn't recognize some of the names of the stores printed on them. "Where's Alfred?" Arthur asked.

Matthew turned with a look of surprise on his face.

Arthur guessed that the nation had been hoping no one would notice him come in.

"He climbed up the ladder he used this morning to leave out the window," Matthew replied. "He's already in his 'costume' and didn't want anyone to see him."

_That's odd_, Arthur thought as he got up from his chair and grabbed a few of the bags out of the other nation's hands. _Why would he be in his costume already? _"I'll help you carry these to your room," he said.

"These aren't all mine," Canada said, indignant.

"Then I'll help you take them to Alfred's room," Arthur countered.

"Eh? That will actually kill two birds with one stone since he wanted your opinion anyway," Matthew said. "Al purchased several costumes and can't decide which one is the best."

Arthur chuckled and rolled his eyes. _That's just like him to overdo it a little,_ he mused.

"Who is it?" Alfred called when Canada knocked on the door.

Arthur furrowed his brow. Alfred's voice sounded a little higher-pitched than usual. His normal tenor tones were gone and had been replaced with a strange, softer, higher lilt.

"It's Matthew and Arthur," Canada said.

"Oh!" Alfred said, his voice dropping an octave. "One second." Alfred's voice sounded lower but those lower tones also sounded forced.

The door clicked. "Don't come in for 45 seconds," Alfred commanded, his voice squeaking slightly. "I want your true first reaction when I reveal the first outfit."

Arthur saw Matthew roll his eyes and start silently counting to 45. After the time was up, both nations walked in the door. All the curtains around the bed had been drawn.

"I've already given my opinion on everything," Matthew said, setting down all of the bags except for one. "Is it all right if I don't stay?"

"Sure Bro. Thanks again for today," Alfred called from behind the curtains. "I'll have to treat you to ice cream and whatever you want later."

Matthew patted Arthur on the shoulder. "You may want to sit down," he said quietly. "It's gonna take a while." Canada walked out, closing the door behind him.

Arthur found a chair and sat down.

"Artie?"

"Yes?"

"Before I start, could you promise not to take back the 'costume'?" Alfred asked in a tenor that was starting to sound falsetto. "I know you thought of it first, but I've worked really hard on it, and I don't want to have wasted my day if you want it back. Just returning the clothes alone would be a headache."

_What on earth is he talking about_? Arthur thought. "I promise you can keep your costume. I've already prepared mine in my room anyway," he said.

"Great! Here goes," Alfred said, allowing his voice to slip back up to the softer, higher octave that Arthur had heard earlier. A petite hand reached out and pulled the curtains open. A blond young woman knelt on the bed in a flattering, one-piece, royal blue swimsuit.

_Who the hell? _Arthur thought, standing up.

She stepped off the bed, and Arthur could see she was wearing red court shoes. If she hadn't been wearing the 5 centimeters-high shoes, she'd be about 8 centimeters shorter than he was†. Her hair was brushed so that golden waves flowed away from her face, and a diamond tiara sparkled on top of her head. The strangest part of the outfit was a satin sash that looped across her front diagonally.

"What do you think Artie? Mattie thinks it's groan-worthy, but I think it's funny," the young lady said, playing with the sash and smiling as she looked down at it. "I even was willing to have my leg hair taken care of so that I'd look good in this outfit." She looked up and put one of her long and shapely legs forward for Arthur to inspect.

"Of course, I plan to write something on this sash," she continued, looking down again and running a finger down the sash as if writing on it, "but I haven't decided whether I like 'Miss America' or 'Miss USA' since we have both contests. Of course, if you say this one sucks, I have a few others to show you as well, but they all kinda have a similar theme. Y'see I wanted to make it easy for the other nations to know who I was . . . " The young woman looked up. Her eyes were a familiar clear blue.

Arthur froze. Suddenly everything clicked into place.

"Artie what's wrong?" Alfred asked. "Why haven't you at least made a snide remark? You okay?" She took a step towards him.

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. _What the bloody hell is going on?_ he thought, stumbling backwards and knocking over the chair in the process.

"Artie, you're seriously freaking me out," Alfred said, taking another step towards him. "What's with that reaction?"

"Alfred, y-y-you're a woman!" Arthur finally managed to get out.

Alfred got an incredulous look on her face. "Duh," she said. "Wasn't that what you were going for in the spell you cast last night? What's the matter? You shocked that your magic actually worked? And call me Amelia; Alfred sounds weird when I'm like this."

"Amelia, then," Arthur said, raising an eyebrow. _He . . . She thinks that spell . . . wait, that actually makes sense, or it would if I didn't know the original purpose of the spell_, he thought. _Until I figure this out, I'll just go along with this idiot's conclusion. _"Of course it worked," Arthur said with a laugh. "I just didn't realize it was you at first."

"That's what I'm hoping will happen at the party," Alfred/Amelia said. "They'll all be like 'Who are you?' and then when they realized it's me, they'll be like 'Holy crap!'." She clapped a hand over her mouth to demonstrate the other nations' reaction and then laughed at her joke.

To Arthur, the sound that escaped her mouth sounded more like the tinkling of bells than the usual obnoxious hyena. It sent a tingle all over his body. _Good, she bought it . . . Wait . . . What the hell was that reaction just now?_ he wondered.

Alfred/Amelia walked over to where Arthur was standing and stood in front of him. "But seriously Artie," she said. "What do you think of this costume? Too cliché? Too revealing? Mattie said . . . what was it . . . oh yeah, he didn't think that some of the other nations will be able to handle it." She looked down at Arthur's overturned chair and she bent over to pick it up.

Arthur was left to look at her rear. He felt heat flow into his face and proceed down from there. "I can see why he said that," he said quietly.

She righted the chair, stood up to face Arthur again, and placed a hand on her hip. "I'd understand if this was a bikini, but it's a modest suit, for crying out loud," Alfred/Amelia said, gesturing toward the swimsuit.

As if commanded by her hand, Arthur looked at the suit. It _**was **_modest. The style and cut of the suit was similar to one from the 1940s. The legs were low-cut, and the suit's back had covered her entire bottom when she'd bent over. The deep blue material wrapped around her body in a way that flattered her waist and showed off her curves at the same time. Arthur felt his eyes involuntarily stop at her chest where the suit came down in a modest V-neck. Gilbert's comments this morning came back to Arthur immediately.

Alfred/Amelia noticed Arthur's gaze. "They _**are**_ pretty awesome, huh?" she said, grinning. "Wanna know my cup size?"

Arthur crimsoned. "I most certainly do not!" he protested, stepping back a little.

Alfred/Amelia laughed, and her smile got wider. "Sure you do," she said. "Not only that, you probably want to touch them." She reached up and cupped her chest with both hands. "This suit is lined and has a built-in shelf bra, so I not only look great, but everything feels great too," she said as she took a step closer to Arthur.

Arthur took another step backwards.

She released her chest, which bounced slightly when gravity took over. "Come on," Alfred/Amelia said, moving closer to Arthur, a crooked smile on her face. She was close enough to Arthur that she could almost reach out and touch him.

She gestured towards her chest. "You know you wanna," she said, taking another step forward.

"Stop this instant, young lady!" Arthur said, looking away while closing his eyes. Without thinking, he put up his right hand to stop Alfred/Amelia's advance. His hand met something soft, round, and plump. Arthur opened his eyes and turned back to look. He was touching her left breast.

She looked down at Arthur's hand and then up at Arthur. "Kyaaaa!" she screamed.

* * *

**A/N**

**My goodness! I never expected this chapter to become this long. I admit that some of the dialog was repeated from previous chapters but that was strictly to give this chapter continuity (yes, I even calculated the minutes carefully so that they matched the amount of time the North American brothers spent eating and shopping). Different POVs of the same incident offer fun insight to the characters' reactions to that same situation as well as information the other character wasn't privy to. I hope, despite the length, it was still a fun read. ^_^ **

**Yes that was a reference to Chef Gordon Ramsay from _Kitchen Nightmares/Hell's Kitchen_ (why wouldn't Arthur hire the best in his country?). I tried my best to pick up on his speech patterns, but I'm sorry if I failed.**

* * *

***A full English breakfast could include many things. It starts with fruit juice and some fruit. Then you're served cereal (sometimes). Then the main course, which includes any combination of bacon, eggs, fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread or toast and sausages usually served with tea with milk, toast, and marmalade. Sometimes black pudding, hash browns, or baked beans are also included depending on the region. This breakfast is referred to as a "Full Monty" _LOL ^_^_ W. Somerset Maugham once said, "To eat well in England, you should have breakfast three times a day", and he was right. A full English breakfast was one of my favorite meals during my trip through the United Kingdom, and I ordered it every time I had a chance.**

**§Benten is the goddess of luck in love, so Japan is trusting things will work in his favor in that aspect.**

†**5 centimeters = 2 inches (Alfred couldn't handle heels any higher than that; he'd break his ankle). 8 centimeters = approx. 3 inches, which makes America 167.6 centimeters or 5 foot, 6 inches now (still tall for a girl). I didn't want to shave too much height off of America but I needed to take off enough that clothes for a 5'9" guy wouldn't fit properly (I've tried on my brother's clothes, and the 3 inches makes enough difference).**

**Translations:**

**Please forgive me for the German accents. I was taking my lead from the dub. -_-;**

**Bollocks = sometimes used as expression of dismay or surprise. This was the closest thing I could find to "oops", b/c it's used when something breaks or does not go your way (there was also "Whoopsy Daisy", but I really didn't like the way that one sounded).**

**ein Ungeheuer = a monster or ogress**

**Bruderherz = Brother. According to FFN author Waliro, who is German (but also speaks/writes pretty decent English) this word literally translates as "brother heart" and means "dear brother"; it's the way Germans refer to their brothers when they want to be personal and show their brotherly feelings. According to Waliro, to just use "Bruder" distances you from your brother and feels awkward to the German speaker. **

**Samhaon = Gaelic harvest festival held on October 31–November 1. Ceridwen is just using the old-fashioned reference for Halloween here because that's how she's used to referring to it. **

**Mon ami = my friend**

**Amérique = America**

**Pourriez-vous ce répéter? = Could you repeat that?**

**Angleterre = England**

**Que dites-vous? = What are you saying?**

**English slang: **

**Sod off, you barmy wanker = Get lost, you idiotic jerk (or moron).**

**court shoes (British English) = high heel shoes (American English)**

**FYI I didn't misspell the word Prussia used to describe America. "Blond" refers to color, whether wood, hair or whatever. "Blonde" is specifically used when referring to a woman or girl with blond hair. Blond is when referring to a man. Yes, I'm an English nerd . . . I might change them all to "blond" eventually since "blonde" is sometimes considered sexist.**

* * *

**I never said that I'd reveal Arthur's costume this chapter, but anyone who voted should already know what it is. Plus, I think I made the final result almost too obvious with the description in this chapter. I'm going to be a tease and not say what the costume is at this time, but I'll give you a hint: The top four winners (in no particular order to hide the winner) were Police Officer, Mad Hatter, Pirate, and Punk Rock Guitarist.**

**Because of pacing, I will have to show the rest of America's costumes next chapter as well.**

**For anyone interested, the following list is how France divided up the nations (he selected the leader based on who he thought would be the best nation for the job)—_Asia_: Japan (leader), China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; _Eastern Europe:_ Russia (there was no choice who the leader was), Belarus, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Sealand, and Ukraine; _Northern Europe_: France (don't be surprised even though the next nation listed would be a better choice), Germany, North Italy and South Italy (I know they're technically more S. Europe but I'd challenge anyone to try separating these two from Germany and Spain), Spain, and Seychelles; _Southern Europe_: Hungary (leader), Austria, Belgium, Prussia (the Bad Touch Trio was broken up b/c Hungary insisted on having an equal number of nations in each group), Switzerland and Liechtenstein. _English-speaking nations_: England (leader), Australia, New Zealand, and Wy (Canada would have been part of this group, but he was already gone). Yes, France can't count . . . or maybe his counting skills are arbitrary. XD**


	7. Hocus Pocus Trick or Treat Your Audience

**Step 7: Hocus Pocus! Trick or Treat Your Audience**

"Vhat on earth vas that scream?" Germany asked as he came through the bedroom door.

Arthur stood up from where he'd been pushed by Alfred/Amelia. "It's nothing," he said, straightening his clothes. "Alfred just was startled by something."

Prussia stuck his head from behind his younger brother. The crimson-eyed nation eyes twinkled with amusement. "Kesesese. Al screams like a little girl," he said, laughing.

"Well then, that makes at least one more male nation who screams like that, right Gil?" Hungary said from behind them. She crossed her arms and smiled.

Prussia's mouth dropped open. "Is it my fault that your stupid Hungarian water heaters don't work in the morning?" he protested.

"That sounded like a confession to me," Hungary said, smirking. "I was actually thinking of the two Italys and Poland when I said that. Is there something you want to tell us?"

Some of the other nations who had come running when they'd heard the scream snickered from the doorway.

"Gott I hate you!" Prussia shouted. "I'm never staying at your place _**ever **_again when the World Conference is in your country!" He pushed past the other nations and stormed out.

"So vhere is America?" Germany asked.

Arthur looked over to the four-poster, king-sized bed, the curtains now drawn. She had run over there after Arthur's accidental "grope" and pulled them closed. "He's hiding," Arthur said.

Germany walked over to the bed and pulled the curtains apart. They flew open easily. There was a lumpy shape under the covers where Alfred/Amelia had obviously crawled. "Come out and apologize for inconveniencing everyone this morning," Germany said, tugging at the covers. They wouldn't move.

"Please don't pull back the blankets," Alfred/Amelia squeaked in a falsetto tenor. "I'm still 'in costume', and I don't want anyone to see it yet."

Germany let go of the blankets.

"I really am sorry that everyone was looking for me," she continued. "I didn't mean to spoil anyone's day."

Several nations murmured.

The lumpy shape moved. "Will that do?" Alfred/Amelia asked, her voice cracking slightly.

"Ja, that vill do," Germany said.

"Could I ask you all to leave now, so I can come out of here?" she asked.

Everyone murmured again.

"Seriously, it's no big deal, Amérique," France said. "We'll see your costume in a couple of hours anyway."

"Yeah, but it's not finished," Alfred/Amelia said, her voice cracking again. "I really would rather you all see it when it's completely awesome. Come on, pretty please?"

More murmurs.

"Well since you asked so nicely . . . let's go everyone," Hungary said. The nations all shuffled out of the room, and Arthur closed the door behind them.

Alfred/Amelia didn't uncover herself.

Arthur walked over to the bed. "Are you going to come out from under there now?" he asked.

"Not while you're in here," she said. "You might try to grope me again." She sniffed.

Arthur felt the heat rise up in his face from embarrassment. "That was an accident!" he protested. He reached up and tugged on the blankets. "Why the hell would I want to touch you anyway?"

Alfred/Amelia moved to the head of the bed and lowered the blankets until she could peek over the top of them. Her cheeks were wet from crying. "You mean you didn't like them?" she said, tearing up again.

"No. No. That's not true," Arthur said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. "They're great. Fantastic!" He clapped his hand over his mouth. _What is this idiot making me say?_

"Artie, you pervert. I hate you!" Alfred/Amelia said, burrowing under the covers again.

"You bloody idiot! You're the one who's making me say crap like that!" Arthur tugged at the covers again. "You aren't making any sense! First you tell me to touch them, and then you freak out when I do by accident. Now come out of there right now!"

"No!" She pushed down the covers with her right arm. "You're the idiot. An idiot and a pervert!"

"Bloody hell! Come out!" Arthur reached over and grabbed her arm.

"No!" She tugged on her arm. "Stop treating me like a child."

"Then stop acting like one!" he said, pulling on her arm.

"I'm not acting like one!" Alfred/Amelia said, tugging back.

"You are too!" Arthur countered.

"I _**am**_ not!" She knelt up on the bed, trying to give herself leverage, and tugged at her arm again. The blankets slipped down and revealed the rest of her swimsuit.

Arthur looked up at her and crimsoned. Even though it was a modest suit, it left very little to the imagination. The suit went in where she went in and out where she went—

"Get out of that indecent outfit right now!" he shouted, blushing even more.

"It's not indecent," Alfred/Amelia countered. "You're just a pervert." She picked up the covers with her free hand and pulled them up, trying to hide under them again.

"Oh no you don't. You are going to change out of that right now!" Arthur said, tugging on her arm with all his might.

Alfred/Amelia lost her balance and fell forward. The forward motion caused Arthur to lose his grip on her arm. She face-planted onto the bed. She quickly sat up and then started crawling towards the side of the bed farthest from Arthur. "You can't make me change if I don't want to," she said as she struggled to free her foot, which had managed to get trapped in the blankets. She finally freed it and started scrambling away.

"Yes I can!" Arthur said, his competitive nature rising at that challenge. He climbed onto the bed and clambered after her. He clamped a hand on her leg.

Alfred/Amelia let out a small scream and tried to get away, but Arthur held fast to her calf, hindering her escape. She turned around and started smacking at him with both hands in a very girly, open-handed way while leaning away from him. It irritated more than it hurt him.

"Stop that. Stop that," Arthur shouted, his temper climbing as he grabbed at her hands and moved forward on the bed.

"Leave me alone. Don't touch me!" Alfred/Amelia said, continuing to smack at him.

Arthur managed to grab both of her wrists. This sudden action along with the inertia of Arthur's forward motion caused Alfred/Amelia to lose her balance and fall backwards onto the bed with a small squeak and a "Poof", pulling him down with her. He fell face-first into something soft. Arthur quickly sat up, hoping what he face-planted in wasn't what he thought it was.

The fire of competitiveness started to ebb away, allowing Arthur's senses to return. They both were panting heavily, trying to catch their breath from the struggle. He noticed that somehow he'd managed to straddle her during the "battle". He still had his hands clamped around her wrists, and he marveled at how soft her skin felt. Arthur looked down at Alfred/Amelia.

Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to catch her breath and the light from the setting sun bounced off her curves, emphasizing her cleavage. She glared up at him, but when their eyes met, she looked surprised and then her expression softened.

Arthur felt heat flow into his face and then envelop his whole body. His heart start pounding and_—_ "Dammit!" he yelled, clamping his hand under his nose and running out of the room as he felt the blood start to trickle through his fingers.

He rushed to the bathroom across the hall from the bedroom and grabbed some tissue, stuffing a little bit of it in his nose. He pinched the bridge of his nose and considered filling the basin with cold water and dunking his head in it. "Fairies, come out right now please," he said.

The sound of tinkling bells filled the bathroom and several fairies floated in the air above Arthur.

"What is it, England?" the one in the red dress from the other day asked.

Arthur looked at her and the others. "Did any of you turn America into a woman?" he asked.

Their mouths dropped open.

"Why on earth would you think we'd do something like that?" one in a pink dress asked.

"To play a prank on either me or him," Arthur proposed.

They all started giggling.

"To do that kind of a transformation spell requires a tremendous amount of magic," one in a yellow dress said, "and a very powerful magic at that. Our collective power can't even begin to reach that level." She snickered. "It _**is**_ a funny prank though."

Arthur sighed a breath of relief. "I didn't really think it was you," he said, "but I had to make sure. Well, then that leaves only one explanation."

The fairies twinkled away as Arthur pulled out his cell phone and dialed Madam Irfon's number one more time.

"Arthur Kirkland, again," he said after the voice-mail message. "The situation is more convoluted than I first believed: the spell turned Alfred into a woman. I know it sounds crazy; I don't know how a spell for a ghost summoning could go so wrong. Please call me as soon as you get my messages, no matter what time it is. I can't think of what to do about this. It's taking everything I've got not to panic." As he hung up, Arthur heard a knock on the door.

"Artie, are you okay?" Alfred/Amelia asked.

Arthur opened the door to see a blanket monster in front of him. He could only see her eyes and nose as she peeked out of an opening in the blanket. He tried to suppress a laugh. _She looks so silly and cute right now, _he mused.

"I changed out of the costume," she said.

_Wait. Does that mean she's naked under there?_ Arthur wondered. His mind reeled at that thought. _Focus,_ he told himself. _Think about Prussia in a bikini_. The image that popped into his head made him shiver and feel nauseous.

"Do you want to see the next costume?" Alfred/Amelia asked, bringing Arthur out of his mental-image hell. "Or are you still mad at me?"

"Mad at you? What makes you think that?" he asked.

"You ran out of the room so fast without saying why that I didn't know what to think," she said. "But you were right. I was acting immature. I'm sorry."

Arthur stared at the blanket monster in front of him; she drooped in humility. His mouth dropped open: Alfred/Amelia had just apologized for being immature. "I'm not angry with you," he said.

"Then can we keep going?" Alfred/Amelia asked, sounding excited and perking back up.

Arthur nodded.

The blanket monster turned around and stumbled back over to the bedroom. She almost tripped and fell flat on her face as she walked into the room.

When Arthur closed the door, she let the blanket fall to her ankles.

Arthur gaped.

Alfred/Amelia was dressed in the most bizarre outfit he had ever seen. She was wearing a knee-length flowy skirt that looked like it had every type of fruit imaginable in its pattern: cherries, strawberries, kiwi fruit, watermelon, grapes, blueberries, and orange, lemon, and lime slices. For a top, she wore a sky-blue, fluffy angora cardigan. It had white pom-poms hanging at the collar and a white fluffy collar. The cardigan was left open to show what was underneath it: a royal plum-colored bra. Arthur _**knew**_ it was a bra because it was satin and had a little ribbon tied in the middle.

"You see this one is modeled after the song 'America the Beautiful'. I think it was very clever of me to think of it, and I can't tell you how many stores we had to go to before we found just the right items," Alfred/Amelia rambled, looking at her outfit and not noticing that Arthur's entire face had turned bright red.

"You know: Oh beautiful for spacious skies." She gestured toward the cardigan.

She fluffed her hair. "For amber waves of grain."

"For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain," she sang, flowing her hand from her chest down to the skirt to illustrate her words. She stood up straight, sticking out her chest and saluting. "America! America_—_"

"T-t-that will do. I know the song," Arthur interrupted. He marched over to her, picked up the blanket, and draped it over her shoulders so that it covered her entire body, except for her head. "C-c-costume rejected," he said, pulling the blanket closed.

Alfred/Amelia looked at Arthur and blushed. "What happened to your nose?" she asked.

Arthur touched his nose with his right hand, still holding the blanket closed with his left. A small piece of tissue was still twisted in his right nostril. _Blast it! I forgot about the tissue_, he thought, covering his nose. He felt the tissue come loose into his hand, and he quickly stuffed it in his pocket. _How do I __explain this?_

"Did I hit your nose when I was smacking at you earlier?" Alfred/Amelia asked.

Arthur blinked. _Finally, that clueless part of America is useful_, he thought. _Wait. Does that mean she doesn't know the other reasons someone gets a bloody nose? How can a flirt like America be so naive about that? Ah who cares . . . as long as she doesn't realize the real reason. _He released the blanket, folded his arms, and tried to act indignant by closing his eyes and lifting his chin. "You should be more careful with that brute strength of yours," he said.

Arthur jumped a little when Alfred/Amelia grabbed his hand. She led him over to the chair he'd sat in earlier, her blanket dragging behind her like a coronation cloak. She then pushed him softly to get him to sit down. She took hold of his face using only her fingers. Arthur noticed how delicate and warm her fingertips felt on his skin. She leaned in until their faces were only about 15 centimeters apart* and examined Arthur's face, a look of concern on her face. The blanket slipped off her shoulders and fell to the floor again.

Arthur felt his heart leap to his throat and his face grow hot again. _What the hell is going on? _he thought. _It's __**just**__ America. She shouldn't be affecting me like this. And why is she acting like she cares that she hurt me? That's so . . . feminine._

"It doesn't look like there's any bruising or scratches or anything," she said, her eyes roaming over his face. "I'd feel so embarrassed if I had to explain that you were all bruised up because of me." She laughed, not releasing his face.

Arthur hesitantly laughed with her and looked down to look away from her face. It was making him nervous to look at her. Looking down was a mistake too because now all he could see was cleavage and her plum-colored brassiere inside that sky-blue cardigan. Arthur felt an urge to wrap his arms around the fluffy bunny splendor before him when he felt the blood start to flow from his nose again.

"Oh no. You're bleeding again," Alfred/Amelia said. "Quick! Pinch your nose."

Arthur did as commanded.

She ran over to where her suitcase was and grabbed a smaller bag out of the dressing table's drawer. Unzipping the bag, she dug through it, pulled something out, and ran back over to Arthur. She grabbed his free hand and put a packet of tissues in it. "I got a ton of these when I went to visit Kiku," she said. "Those people are so considerate. I love free stuff."

Arthur looked down at the tissue. "Pink Lady Parlor" was printed on it. _Does she not know why they were handing these out?_ he thought. "Thank you Al . . . Amelia," he said, grabbing a tissue out of the packet.

She smiled. "Okay. Costume rejected, then," she said. "I've got a few others. Hang on." She grabbed several of the shopping bags and hopped back on the bed, pulling the curtains closed.

Arthur could hear bags being rummaged through and clothes shuffling.

She pulled back the curtains after a minute or two. Clothes littered the top of the bed.

Arthur got up from the chair. "Don't leave everything all over the place," he said. "At least try to keep your things nice by folding them up." He grabbed the cardigan and immediately released it. It was still warm from when she was wearing it. His hand had tingled when he touched it, bringing back the memory of how she looked in it. Arthur felt the blood flow into his cheeks.

"I'll get to that in a minute," she said. "What about this costume?"

Arthur noticed her outfit for the first time. She was dressed in a red-and-white striped blouse with a dark blue skirt that had white sequins on it. They looked like little stars.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Do all your costumes make a reference to your name," he asked, "or reveal who you are as obviously as this one does?"

Alfred/Amelia laughed and looked embarrassed. "I just didn't think anyone would recognize me otherwise," she said.

"Don't be silly," Arthur insisted. "We're all clever enough to figure it out."

Alfred/Amelia grinned. "Great! Then let me show you my more symbolic ones," she said, unzipping her skirt.

"Dammit Amelia! At least get back in your 'changing room' first," Arthur said, looking up at the ceiling. "You're a girl now, remember?"

"Oops, sorry." Alfred/Amelia laughed and hopped back on the bed, pulling the curtains closed again.

Arthur returned to his seat to wait for the next option. The next outfit was a baseball uniform, only with a short white skirt instead of baseball pants.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because one of your props could be considered a weapon, and you are eating your other prop," Arthur said, pointing at the baseball bat and the hot-dog respectively._ That skirt is too short; I don't want anyone else to see those legs, _he thought, glancing at them. Suddenly he realized what he was doing and felt the blood flow into his cheeks. _Why was I . . . what the hell is wrong with me? _He looked away from her legs, hoping she didn't notice his flushed face.

"What the?" Alfred/Amelia said, looking at the half-eaten hot-dog. "I don't even remember chomping down on this . . . guess I'm hungry." She finished off the rest of it.

Her next two outfits were simply ridiculous. The first one was a brown dress made completely of feathers. She had a white feather hat on to complete the outfit, and her feet were clad in orange boots. The feathers in the hat went in all directions and almost covered her entire head.

"Bald eagle rejected," Arthur said when he finally managed to stop laughing.

Next Alfred/Amelia came out from her "changing room" wearing a leather skirt, gloves, and boots, all a warm brown color. She wore a top, made of wool, still in its fluffy sheep's skin form and also dyed a warm brown. She had on a brown curly wig with little black horns on top of the wig.

Arthur almost fell out of his chair from laughing.

"What? You don't like the American bison idea?" she asked, pouting. She crossed her arms. "I thought this was the most creative one. There's just no winning with you, is there? I thought really hard about each and every one of these costumes."

"No, the bison costume is great! You should definitely go as that," Arthur said, trying to catch his breath and wiping away the tears coming out of his eyes. His stomach hurt from the laughter. _These ideas are all typical of America, _he concluded, feeling relieved that even though the outside looked different, the same personality and mentality was still on the inside. "Really, I'd love to see the other nations' reaction to that one," he said.

She pouted more and took off the wig and horns. "Nah. I'm going to reject this one after all," she said. "Something like this is just too warm to wear inside." She climbed back into her "changing room", pulling the curtains closed.

"If you want to use that as your excuse, go ahead," Arthur said.

Alfred/Amelia poked her head out and stuck her tongue out at him before disappearing again.

Arthur started to chuckle, then stopped. _I shouldn't have rejected those silly ones_, he thought, suddenly remembering that he'd arranged this whole party to humiliate America. _How did I get distracted from that objective? _

Alfred/Amelia stepped out onto the floor wearing those red court shoes again. She was dressed in a flapper-style dress, but instead of fringe, the entire dress was covered in red rose petals (or at least something that looked like rose petals). She wore a red rose in her hair.

Arthur stared; this outfit had the opposite effect on him than the other two had. He actually liked it.

"Is this one too subtle?" she asked, looking worried. "The red rose is the United States' national flower."

"No this one is beautiful," Arthur said, "but you probably didn't realize that, though not specifically the _red rose,_ the rose is also the national flower for Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Maldives, Iran, Iraq, _and the United Kingdom_."

Alfred/Amelia sighed. "Well, then this one is going onto the reject pile then," she said. "If only to avoid wearing _**your**_ national flower."

"Why you cheeky little brat!" Arthur said, getting up and walking over to her.

Alfred/Amelia laughed and hopped back on the bed. "Just kidding, dude!" she said, putting up her hands in self-defense.

Arthur looked down at the clothes on the bed. He picked up a white with yellow polka-dot dress. "What does this one symbolize?" he asked.

Alfred/Amelia cringed. "That one was actually an impulse buy," she said. "I was looking for a dress with apples or apple pie on it when I saw that one. Once I had tried it on, it looked so cute that I found myself buying it. I'll take it back to the stores with the other rejects. I won't waste your time by trying it on for you."

"Too bad," Arthur said. "I would have liked to see you in a dress so cute that you couldn't reject it." He looked up from the dress.

Alfred/Amelia's cheeks were bright pink. She grabbed the dress and closed the curtains.

After a few minutes, she stepped out of her changing room. "Well what do you think? Of course, I need to curl my hair for this look, but you get the idea," she said. She was wearing a floor-length, sea-green dress. It was a wrap-style dress, so it looked like a Roman-style robe. Her shoes peeked out from the bottom of the dress and had little silver chains on them, but they hung off the shoes as if they were broken. Alfred/Amelia was wearing an emerald tiara with 7 points to it.

Only her props seemed out of place: she held a green notebook with "JULY IV MDCCLXXVI" written on the front of it in her left hand and a green torch in her right hand. She noticed Arthur staring at them. "I couldn't find the old-fashioned versions of these, so I had to improvise," she said with a shrug. She turned on the torch and held it under her chin. "But I can tell scary stories with this flashlight or ward off enemies by flashing light in their eyes, so it works_—_ Ow. My eyes." She turned off the torch and blinked several times.

Arthur let out a chuckle and smiled. Suddenly it made sense how she had been able to see while the curtains on the bed had been drawn.

"What? No snide remark, rejection, or uncontrollable laughter this time?" Alfred/Amelia asked.

Arthur shook his head. "This is the best one," he said. _Not too silly, not too provocative, _he thought. _Wait . . . why should I care if she's exposing too much or not?_

"Of course, it would be the last one I tried on. I guess I'll go with it then. It's the only one left," she said. "On the other hand, I could always go back to the 'Miss America' one." She looked as if she was actually considering it.

"Absolutely not!" Arthur said. Big Ben rang out five chimes in the distance. Arthur pulled out his pocket watch. "Is that really the time? I need to go change. Amelia, the party starts at six o'clock tonight, so don't be late. As for a costume, I think you should go with either the rose costume or this Lady Liberty one." He opened the door to leave.

"Artie."

"Yes?"

"Will there be food at the party? I'm starving," Alfred/Amelia said, clutching at her stomach.

"Of course, you git," Arthur said. "Now clean up that mess you made." He pointed at the pile of clothes on her bed and walked out of her room, shutting the door behind him. Arthur hummed as he walked towards his room. Noticing his own mood, he stopped in the hallway to ponder what had caused it. _Why don't I care anymore that my plans have been ruined? _he wondered as he shook his head and continued to walk to his room.

_I'm glad I laid everything out beforehand now that I only have an hour until the party, _Arthur thought as he splashed on his favorite cologne as planned and then quickly put on the long-sleeve, ruffled white shirt and brown trousers. Next came the forest-green waistcoat. Arthur always liked this elegant waistcoat; it was almost as long as the overcoat. He fastened his black and silver belt and the scabbard-belt on and then layered a plum-colored sash over the belt for some flair.

Arthur slipped on his boots, polishing where they had been scuffed from battles and everyday use. He sniffed the long, red overcoat he'd pressed and aired out earlier. He couldn't smell the gunpowder scent anymore, but he was glad he took extra precautions anyway. He took down the coat and slipped it on.

He looked in the full-length mirror and smiled. Queen Elizabeth had often commented on how dashing he looked in this outfit. Unfortunately, none of the original items managed to survive to the 20th century._ How many times have I asked a tailor to re-create this overcoat?_ Arthur mused._ If only favorite clothes lasted as long as their owner, then life would be perfect._

Arthur picked up his three-cornered, captain's hat. The white plume on this re-creation had to be one of the most exquisite and beautiful ones he'd had in years. After putting it on, he went back to the hatbox; he'd remembered the "gag item" he'd purchased a couple of years to go with this outfit. Normally he wouldn't wear something like this because it distorts his depth perception, but this particular eye-patch was a child of modern technology. Comfortable and realistic-looking, it also enabled its user to see through it just like dark sunglasses.

There was a knock on the door, and Alfred/ Amelia walked in without waiting for a response. She stopped as soon as she saw him. "Wow. Pirate . . . that looks . . . great," she said, her cheeks coloring slightly. She propped herself up on a small dressing table by the door as if she had trouble standing and looked down at her shoes.

Arthur smirked. It was unusual for Alfred/Amelia to be at a loss for words. _Not quite as eloquent as Elizabeth, but approximately the same expression and reaction_, he noted, recalling his former queen from a few centuries ago. _Why did she react that way again? Lizzy told me, but I can't remember. _"Thank you," he said. "But how many times have I told you to wait for someone to say 'Enter' before entering? What if I'd been undressed?"

Alfred/Amelia looked up and laughed. "Big deal," she said. "You've been to swimming parties at my place all the time. Plus there was that time we all went to Kiku's favorite hot spring for his birthday. There was nothing left to the imagination that time."

_Did she just get redder when she said that?_ Arthur wondered as he studied her face. "Why haven't you gone downstairs?" he asked. "I figured you would already be there by now, pigging out."

"Yeah, well . . . I thought I was ready to make my big entrance," Alfred/Amelia said, "but when the time came to go downstairs, I got nervous. I'm worried they'll laugh at me, or worse, not recognize me at all. Will you go down with me, Artie? I really will feel more comfortable if you come into the room with me."

"If you insist," he said, pretending to be annoyed and holding out his hand as he walked over to her. Secretly, he felt a small wave of delight. He'd felt slightly disappointed that he didn't get to see Alfred/Amelia freak out from a ghost haunting her as originally planned, so seeing the other nations react to her transformation was a nice compromise.

She grasped his hand.

Arthur felt his face grow warm.

Alfred/Amelia walked gingerly down the hall with him, whispering something to herself.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked.

Alfred/Amelia giggled and stopped. "I'm reminding myself not to fall in these shoes. High heels make your legs look sexy, but they require a lot of balance," she said.

_Who could even see your legs in that dress— _Arthur started to think until he noticed for the first time that her dress had a slit on one side that went all the way up to her mid-thigh. "Well, if you fall, I'm letting you go down on your own," he said, trying not to stare at her leg and failing miserably. "No point in us both looking stupid."

"Jerk," she said.

Arthur stuck his tongue out at her.

She laughed.

When they reached the staircase, Alfred/Amelia tucked her props into one arm and clutched Arthur's arm to keep from falling. Arthur silently did multiplication tables as he glanced at the ceiling: a certain soft and round part of her was rubbing up against his arm. They could hear party already buzzing when they arrived at the ballroom Arthur had decided to hold it in.

"Shall we?" Arthur said.

Alfred/Amelia nodded as she released his arm but not his hand. They entered the room together. The entire assembly fell silent as they stared at the woman next to Arthur.

"I knew it!" Prussia hollered, walking up to them. "You did have your girlfriend here." He grinned, nodding towards their hands.

"I'm not his girlfriend," Alfred/Amelia said, releasing Arthur's hand and blushing.

Prussia laughed, then leaned in. "How much do you cost per day then?" he said, leering at her.

Alfred/Amelia glared at him.

A fist hit Prussia in the face, and he went flying backwards. Several nations stepped back and let out cries of surprise.

Arthur shook his right hand as if to shake off the pain. "I think I just found proof that you're head is full of rocks, Prussia," he said, closing the eye that wasn't under the "eye-patch" and wincing. He shook his hand again.

"Warum zur Hölle schlägst du mich?" Prussia yelled, standing back up and cradling his jaw.

"Why do you think, you wanker?" Arthur said, glaring at him. "That was a nasty thing to say to any lady, and my honor as a gentleman demands that I defend damsels, even if that damsel happens to be _**this guy**_." He nodded towards Alfred/Amelia, and she blushed.

"Guy?" France asked, walking over to Alfred/Amelia. "Surely you have used the wrong word. Your companion is definitely a _**woman**_." France winked at Alfred/Amelia, and she threw him an incredulous look.

"I'm sure Prussia deserved the punch, as usual," Austria said.

Prussia let out a sound of protest as he rubbed his jaw.

"But you are also in the wrong here," Austria continued. "It is clear you've invited someone who is not part of our 'group' to the party. Anyone can see that."

Several nations nodded.

Canada, dressed as Iron Man, rolled his eyes and sent a crooked smile to Alfred/Amelia.

"Pfft. I told you they wouldn't get it, Artie," she said, laughing. "I shoulda went with one of the more obvious costumes."

"Vhat are you talking about, Fräulein?" Germany asked.

Arthur sighed. "Take a good look at her before you assume she's not one of us," he said. "My companion's costume is linked to her identity." He laughed inwardly. Being vague like this and making them guess was actually fun.

Prussia looked her up and down. The group moved in a little closer. A few nations behind him started murmuring. Kiku laughed quietly, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Artie, we should just tell them," Alfred/Amelia said. "I don't think they get it. You'd think at least Francis would remember since it's thanks to him my costume's inspiration even exists."

Arthur held up his hand. "Give them a moment," he said.

Alfred/Amelia looked as if she realized she wasn't holding her props correctly and fixed them so they were in the correct hands.

"Zat outfit does look familiar, very familiar," France said. He opened his mouth to say something more, but stopped, his eyes growing wide as he realized what the costume was symbolizing. All that exited his mouth was a squeak.

Arthur let out a small laugh. _That reaction alone is worth the spell not working properly, _he thought.

"I know what you're saying, Francis," Elizabeta said. "I feel like I've seen this 'look' somewhere before." Hungary walked up to Alfred/Amelia and paced around her, giving her the once-over as she did.

Chef Gordon walked into the room and set down some snacks he was carrying on a tray. He turned and glanced at Alfred/Amelia. "Bloody brilliant Lady Liberty costume!" he said, flashing a thumbs up. "Reminds me of my visits to New York. Even the shoes offer a wonderful interpretation of the real thing, yes?"

Alfred/Amelia looked excited. She hurried over to him, switched both props to her left hand and grasped his hand with her right. "Yes!" she said, enthusiastically shaking his hand. "You're awesome! I thought I was the only one who knew about that detail. By the way, I've watched _**every one**_ of your shows. I love them! You rock!"

Chef Gordon smiled a sheepish smile, thanked her for the compliment, and then left, stating he and his assistant needed to finish bringing in the rest of the food.

"I need to get his autograph," Alfred/Amelia raved. "It's so awesome that he's here! He's like a cooking hero!"

Arthur looked around the room. Almost every single nation's face was now mirroring France's, (except for Feliciano, Antonio, and Prussia who still looked confused). Someone dropped a glass, and it shattered. Arthur cringed. _I'm positive that was one of my good goblets, _he inwardly moaned. The noise from the glass broke the silence as well.

"Amérique?" France said finally.

"Yeah. Took you guys long enough, and you had to have help at that," Alfred/Amelia said, glancing at the assembled nations and smirking.

Suddenly the room was filled with noise.

"Mon Dieu!"

"Bloody Nora!"

"Mi a fene?"

"咦? Zhè dàodǐ shì zěnme huí shì?"

"Che Diavolo!"

"Verdammte Scheiße!"

"Ve~What are you and everyone else getting so excited about, Ludwig?"

"Ah! I get it now. Buhyoo~ that's so cuuuuute!"

Alfred/Amelia walked over to the food and picked up a candied apple. She bit into it and placed a hand on her hip. "Yeah. Artie used one of his spells for this costume. Pretty 'magical', huh?" she said.

Arthur face-palmed. _That pun was terrible. . . ugh,_ he thought.

"So are we going to start partying or not?" Alfred/Amelia asked.

"Vhat the hell?" Prussia suddenly yelled. "First Hungary, now _**you**_, America? How on earth did you hide it all these years? Potztausend!"

All the nations turned to stare at Prussia, and Germany mirrored Arthur.

* * *

**A/N **

***That's 6 inches for us non-metric users. Their faces are pretty dang close to each other if you ask me.**

**Hocus Pocus: two of the purposes for using this magic word are for distraction and deception. I thought it was perfect for what's going on in this chapter. **

**"America the Beautiful" is one of the most beloved and popular of the many American patriotic songs. From time to time, it has been proposed as a replacement for "The Star Spangled Banner" as the national anthem (even other nations know this song and have played it for US dignitaries from time to time).**

**American cultural icons: the American flag, baseball, and apple pie. United States' national bird: bald eagle; national animal: American bison; national Flower: the red rose. **

**The Statue of Liberty a.k.a. "Lady Liberty" is one of the United States' most recognizable, famous, and beloved icons. Her official name is "Liberty Enlightens The World", and the torch she holds in her right hand symbolizes that idea. The seven-point crown represent the seven seas and the seven continents of the world. The broken chains at her feet symbolize freedom from oppression. The tablet in her left hand reads July 4, 1776, the date the Declaration of Independence was signed. The Roman-style robe she wears symbolizes that the United States is a Republic, just like Rome was. Lady Liberty stands as a welcoming symbol of Hope, Freedom, and Liberty to all who enter the New York City harbor, whether they are new immigrants, visitors, or citizens returning home. She represents the ideals of the United States and is an enduring symbol of the American spirit. **

**Yes. Alfred knows all of this b/c he loves Lady Liberty.**

**I'll reveal the other nations' costumes in the next chapter. I tried it in this one and it slowed down the pacing. So. . . the party continues next time (with a slight flashback from America)!**

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**British to American English Translations:**

**court shoes (British English) = high heel shoes (American English)**

**torch (British English) = flashlight (American English)**

**Language Translations:**

**Warum zur Hölle schlägst du mich?** **= Why in the hell did you hit me?**

**Some of these other translations I'm going to give you the toned down version of some of the expressions (there are some things I don't like writing in English):**

**Mon Dieu! = my goodness! (French)**

**Bloody Nora! = expression used throughout the UK and some of its former colonies to show extreme surprise. This one came from Australia BTW**

**Mi a fene? = What the devil/hell/heck? (Hungarian)**

**咦****? Zhè dàodǐ shì zěnme huí shì? = Eh? (Chinese simplified) What the hell/on earth is going on? (Chinese phonetic)**

**Che Diavolo! = What the hell! (Italian-this is coming from Romano BTW)**

**Verdammte Scheiße = Holy shit! [literally Damn shit!] (German)**

**Buhyoo~! = Spain and his catchphrase/meme**

**Potztausend = Prussian for "By Jove" but it also can mean "Damn", which is more what I was going for.**

**=_= it wasn't easy finding all these expressions of surprise (especially the Hungarian, Chinese, German, and Prussian ones . . . expressions just don't translate well from language to language). I'm sorry if I got any of them incorrect. If there are any really offensive or incorrect phrases, or any phrases that would be OOC for the nation to say, please let me know about a good alternative expression, and I'll change it.**

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**If you liked what you've read, please let me know in a review. Faves and Story Alerts are as wonderful as a new pair of cute shoes for me. If you have some concrit for me, please let me know as well (you can leave it in a review or PM me, I'll be happy for it either way). If you didn't like what you've read, thank you for taking the time to read this far ^_^**


	8. Alakazam! Nothing Up My Sleeve, right?

**A/N I thought it might be fun to show you America's reaction to what went on in Ch. 7 (in addition to continuing the story). (PS while this is my longest chapter to date, my beta-reader had no problem with it and said that it didn't "read" like a long chapter, or something along those lines). Enjoy! ^_^**

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**Step 8: Alakazam! Nothing Up My Sleeve (right?)**

"Now clean up that mess you made," Arthur pointed at the pile of clothes on Alfred/Amelia's bed. He walked out of her room, shutting the door behind him.

"'Now clean up that mess you made'," she mocked, faking a British accent. She stuck her tongue out at the closed door and pouted slightly._ I still needed to get ready_. She looked at her face in the mirror on the dresser across the room. _At least I don't need to worry about makeup, according to the ladies at that makeup counter. _

They had refused to sell her anything but lip gloss. "You are a natural beauty, and you shouldn't hide that under makeup," the head sales clerk had said. Alfred/Amelia didn't know what they meant by that, but Matthew had told her it was a good thing.

When she had stopped at a hair salon to get tips on how to style her hair, the stylists were more than happy to play with it for almost an hour. They had shown her how to use a curling iron; she glanced over at the device and remembered how hot it had felt hovering near her face. _In my opinion, that thing could be dangerous in the wrong hands,_ she mused. _I want to get started on my hair before I forget how to use it, but . . ._ She sighed. . . ._ I'd better do this now, or I'll hear it from Artie later._

She packed the "Bald Eagle", "Bison", and "Baseball" costumes all in the same bag. _Good thing I kept the tags on all of these_, Alfred/Amelia thought. _Otherwise, I'd never get my money back for all these rejects._ The tag from her current costume started to itch, reminding her she hadn't removed it yet. She unzipped the dress from under the arm, removed the tag, and then zipped it up again.

Alfred/Amelia put the underwear from La Senza back in its bag: one set of royal plum, red, and blue. She was wearing the forest-green ones. She blushed as she thought about the colors she'd picked.

"Arthur-san says his favorite colors are forest green, royal plum, red, and blue," Kiku had texted her earlier.

Alfred/Amelia had felt the blush all the way to her ears as she texted back, "Why should I care what colors that old man likes? What are you trying to imply?"

"I'm not implying anything," he had texted. "He's the only other man in the room, so I asked him. If you want, I could ask Elizabeta instead."

"No, no. Don't do that!" she had texted him.

"Honestly, Alfred-kun, why'd you jump on that so quickly, hmm (~_^)?" Kiku had teased.

"You . . . I'll text you later," she had texted back before putting her cell phone away. She had still picked the colors Kiku had shared with her, but it was only because they looked good on her . . . no other reason than that. All the same, when Mattie had asked, it had embarrassed her to have to admit the colors her "boyfriend" had suggested were Arthur's favorites, so she'd ignored the question. Lucky for her, Mattie knew her well enough to drop the subject when she did something like that.

She noticed a flash of royal blue on the bed. The swimsuit and satin sash had been buried under all the other costumes. _I can still return this one, can't I? If not, maybe Belgium or Hungary would want it_, Alfred/Amelia thought as she picked up the suit. _All of the other female nations might be either too big or too small to fit it. _

As she looked down at the suit, her thoughts were brought immediately back her and Arthur's "little argument" about it. She'd lost, and that had upset her. Her new body's center of gravity was lower now, and she still wasn't used to it, so she'd lost her balance.

She had glared up at Arthur and had noticed that he had the weirdest expression on his face. His cheeks were flushed . . . probably from the "fight" . . . and he looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. She noticed how pretty his eyes looked in the setting sunlight and felt her heart beat a little faster as she looked into them. They held eye contact for what seemed like forever when—

"Dammit!" Arthur yelled and ran out of the room before she could ask him where he was going or why.

Alfred/America sat up and looked at the door he'd slammed behind him. She touched her wrist and tried to figure out what had just happened. Her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest, and her whole body tingled. "What the hell? What's going on?" she screamed as she buried her face in a pillow on the bed.

She rolled over and looked up at the canopy on the bed. _What kind of a reaction was that just now? It's __**just**_ _England,_ she told herself, pressing her hands to her warm face. _Think of Gil in a bikini_. The image that popped in her head made her whole body cool down in almost an instant.

A couple of minutes passed, and Arthur still hadn't returned to the room. _What if Artie's mad at me for being so stubborn__?_ Alfred/Amelia mused. She got up and changed into her "America the Beautiful" costume. She still needed his opinion on the other costumes. She grabbed a blanket and covered herself with it so that she could ask him to come back to her room without exposing her "costume" to anyone in the hallway.

After they returned to the bedroom, she showed off her new costume. Arthur looked like he didn't understand the costume so she explained by singing the song it was symbolizing. "America! America—" she sang saluting the imaginary flag in her mind.

"T-t-that will do. I know the song," Arthur interrupted. He marched over to her, picked up the blanket, and draped it over her shoulders so that it covered her entire body, except for her head. "C-c-costume rejected," he said, pulling the blanket closed.

_What's the big deal? _Alfred/Amelia wondered as she looked at Arthur. _Is he worried I'll get cold or something?_ She noticed that his face was flushed again and felt her face react in kind. Then she noticed a little piece of white tissue was in his right nostril. "What happened to your nose?" she asked.

He touched his nose with his right hand, still holding the blanket closed with his left. He pulled his hand away and the tissue was gone.

_Maybe. . . I mean . . . I still feel as strong as I did when I was a guy . . . _ "Did I hit your nose when I was smacking at you earlier?" she proposed. _It can't be because of the other reason you get bloody noses. _Kiku had explained about that when an anime character had gotten one in a show they were watching. _After all, this is Artie, and he doesn't think of me that way, right?_

Arthur released the blanket, folded his arms, closed his eyes and lifted his chin to the sky. "You should be more careful with that brute strength of yours," he said, sounding slightly angry.

_I knew it. I guess I'm still a klutz, even in this new body . . . poor Artie, _she thought, reaching out and grabbing his hand. _I need to make sure he's all right before we go downstairs . . . Weird. He's not resisting,_ she mused as she led him over to the chair he'd sat in earlier.

When they reached the chair, she gently pushed him to get him to sit, and once again, he offered no resistance. _Geez, I wish it was this easy to get him to do things for me all the time, _she thought as she took hold of his face using only her fingers. As she scanned his face, she felt the blanket slip off her shoulders. "It doesn't look like there's any bruising or scratches or anything," she said. "I'd feel so embarrassed if I had to explain that you were all bruised up because of me." She noticed for the first time how warm his face felt and how close their faces were; a wave of nervousness flowed over her, and she laughed to hide it.

He laughed a little in return and looked down and away from her face.

_Huh? Why is he . . . ? _Alfred/Amelia wondered when she saw blood start to flow from his nose again. "Oh no. You're bleeding again," she said. "Quick! Pinch your nose."

Arthur grabbed his nose with his right hand.

She ran over to where her suitcase was and grabbed a smaller bag out of the dressing table's drawer, unzipping it quickly. _Tissues . . . tissues . . . tissues from Kiku's. . . _she thought as she pushed aside the toothbrush, toothpaste and other toiletries in the bag. She smiled at the the little rhyme she had just made up and continued it until she spotted something pink. _Ah-ha, here we go. S_he grabbed it and walked back over to where he was sitting. She picked up Arthur's hand and put the tissues in it. "I got a ton of these when I went to visit Kiku," she said. "Those people are so considerate. I love free stuff."

"Thank you Al . . . Amelia," he said, grabbing a tissue out of the packet and taking care of his bloody nose with it.

"Okay. Costume rejected, then," she had said, smiling at him. "I've got a few others. Hang on." She had grabbed several of the shopping bags and hopped back on the bed, pulling the curtains closed. It had gone immediately dark, so she had dug out the flashlight so that she could see. Trying on each costume only to get rejected or laughed at each time had been frustrating, but it had also been fun.

_I hate to admit it, but I kinda liked almost all of the reactions I got outta Artie, _she mused as she continued to put clothes back into their bags. She picked up the white dress with yellow polka-dots and glanced at it. "Too bad. I would have liked to see you in a dress so cute that you couldn't reject it," she remembered Arthur saying. She felt her cheeks grow hot again.

_Too bad this 'costume' is only for tonight,_ she thought, folding up the dress. _I would have liked to see his reaction to this_. Alfred/Amelia immediately slapped herself on the cheek for that thought. "What are you saying?" she scolded herself aloud. "One day as a girl is bad enough as it is." She set the dress in its bag, then packed away the rose-petal flapper-style dress and the red heels.

After curling her hair, she stood at the top of the stairs, ready to go down and _literally_ show the world the new America. Her heart jumped to her throat, and she found herself heading for Arthur's room instead.

Alfred/Amelia knocked on the door and walked in without waiting for a response. She stopped as soon as she saw Arthur standing in front of his dresser. "Wow. Pirate . . . that looks . . . great," she said. _He looks __**really**_ _sexy right now for some reason, _she thought as she felt her cheeks get warm. Her legs suddenly felt like Jell-o. _What the hell? _Alfred/Amelia propped herself up on a small table by the door and looked down at her legs. _It must be the shoes,_ she thought. _I'm not used to walking in them yet. Yeah. That's why . . . _

"Thank you," she heard Arthur say. "But how many times have I told you to wait for someone to say 'Enter' before entering? What if I'd been undressed?"

She looked up and laughed. "Big deal," Alfred/Amelia said. "You've been to swimming parties at my place all the time. Plus there was that time we all went to Kiku's favorite hot spring for his birthday. There was nothing left to the imagination that time."

The memory of that birthday party suddenly popped into her head. Just like everyone else, Arthur had worn nothing but a little towel around his waist, which had fallen off when he'd exited the water, showing off his derriere.

Alfred/Amelia had laughed at him then, but now, when she looked at Arthur, he suddenly wasn't wearing his pirate costume anymore. She saw him standing there in nothing but that _**damn**_ towel. She felt her heart start pounding again, and her entire head felt like it was on fire. _Think of Gil in a lime-green thong_, she told herself. As soon as that image appeared in her head, she felt like vomiting. _This image is even worse than the first one I thought up. Sorry Gil for using you like that._

"Why haven't you gone downstairs?" Arthur asked, pulling her out of her mental torture chamber. "I figured you would already be there by now, pigging out."

"Yeah, well . . . I thought I was ready to make my big entrance," Alfred/Amelia said, "but when the time came to go downstairs, I got nervous. I'm worried they'll laugh at me, or worse, not recognize me at all. Will you go down with me, Artie? I really will feel more comfortable if you come into the room with me."

"If you insist," he said. He rolled his eyes but immediately walked over to her, holding out his hand.

Alfred/Amelia gingerly reached out and grasped his hand. She felt herself squeal with delight internally when their hands made contact, but then stopped herself instantly. _What's wrong with you? _she scolded herself._ Don't think about how nice your hand feels in his. You've held his hand lots of times when you were younger, and it was no big deal then. Why should it be any different now?_ _Concentrate on something else! _

Her hand started tingling, and the sensation traveled up her arm. Suddenly, she felt like she was having a hard time breathing and became preoccupied that her hand might start sweating any second. "Concentrate on walking: heel-toe, heel-toe, don't fall, heel-toe," she whispered to herself.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked, his cheeks pink.

_Crap! I got caught, _she thought. _I can't tell him I was freaking out because I was holding his hand. He'll think I'm weird._ She giggled and stopped walking. "I'm reminding myself not to fall in these shoes. High heels make your legs look sexy, but they require a lot of balance," she half-fibbed. She smiled when she saw Arthur staring at the leg that was showing through the slit in the dress. _Wait, why does that make me feel happy?_

"Well, if you fall, I'm letting you go down on your own," he said, not looking away from her leg.

She felt her smile get a little bigger.

"No point in us both looking stupid," he continued.

"Jerk," she said, not really meaning it.

Arthur stuck his tongue out at her.

_Is he being playful? What put him in such a good mood? _she wondered, laughing at him.

When they reached the staircase, Alfred/Amelia tucked her props into her arm and clutched his arm to keep from falling. She noticed that Arthur was looking at the ceiling the whole time they descended the staircase. _Weird. What's he looking at? _she thought, looking up at the ceiling and pulling his arm closer so that she didn't fall.

She could hear that the party was already noisy when they arrived at the ballroom Arthur had decided to hold it in.

"Shall we?" Arthur said.

She nodded, still feeling nervous; her stomach felt queasy. _Don't you dare reject that hot-dog from earlier, _she scolded it. _This is nothing compared to giving speeches or fighting in a battle. _She and Arthur entered the room together.

The entire assembly fell silent as they stared at her.

_Cool! They're all speechless,_ she thought. A new wave of nervousness mixed with nausea flowed over her as they continued to stare. _Why does this feel the same as when I'm about to go swimming? _Her stomach gurgled, and the hot-dog threatened._ No, damn it! Stay down!_ she told it.

"I knew it!" Gilbert hollered, walking up to them. He was wearing a black hoodie that had ears or horns on the hood and a skull stitched on the right pocket, which he wore over a black-and-white striped shirt and jeans. A black tail curled around behind him. "You did have your girlfriend here." He grinned and nodded towards their hands.

Alfred/Amelia looked down. She hadn't even noticed that they were still holding hands. "I'm not his girlfriend," she said, releasing Arthur's hand. She felt her face grow hot with embarrassment.

Gilbert laughed and then leaned in. "How much do you cost per day then?" he said, leering at her.

_What a pig! I never knew that Gil was such a pervert,_ Alfred/Amelia thought as she glared at him. _I oughta punch him again._

Suddenly, a fist hit Gilbert in the face, and he went flying backwards, causing the other nations to step back. Several of them let out cries of surprise.

Alfred/Amelia looked at Arthur.

He stepped back and shook his right hand as if to shake off the pain. "I think I just found proof that you're head is full of rocks, Prussia," he said, closing the eye that wasn't under the "eye-patch" and wincing. He shook his hand again.

_He hit him with everything he had,_ she marveled. _I've been punched by Artie, but he never hit me with enough force to send me flying. Why did he—?_

"Warum zur Hölle schlägst du mich?" Gilbert yelled, standing back up and cradling his jaw.

"Why do you think, you wanker?" Arthur said, glaring at him. "That was a nasty thing to say to any lady, and my honor as a gentleman demands that I defend damsels, even if that damsel happens to be _**this guy**_." He nodded towards Alfred/Amelia.

She felt the heat flow up into her face as she crimsoned. _I'm a hero. I don't need protecting! _she thought. _So why does it feel good that he protected my honor just now? . . . That makes me feel so . . . girly. _She wrestled over whether she liked that second feeling or not.

"Guy?" France asked, walking over to Alfred/Amelia. He was holding a lantern and wearing old-fashioned French clothes. A piece of cloth sat beautifully on his head. Alfred/Amelia could see that the only part of his outfit that looked out of place was the tattered shirt under his coat, but it was the final clue as to what he was dressed as for the party.

_That is the most non-scary ghost I've ever seen_, she thought, _and I'm the one who should know if a ghost is terrifying or not._

"Surely you have used the wrong word. Your companion is definitely a _**woman**_." France said, winking at her.

Alfred/Amelia raised an eyebrow. _Wha . . .? Is he trying to flirt with me? Somehow I don't feel flattered,_ she thought, _especially since it wouldn't matter what sex I am to Ol' France here._

"I'm sure Gilbert deserved the punch, as usual," Austria said. He was dressed as a doctor. Alfred/Amelia noticed that he also was sporting a tail and devil horns and was carrying a funeral wreath.

Gilbert let out a sound of protest and rubbed his jaw.

"But you are also in the wrong here," Austria stated. "It is clear you've invited someone who is not part of our 'group' to the party. Anyone can see that."

Several nations nodded.

_They don't recognize me at all! _Alfred/Amelia thought, feeling floored by their reaction. _Has my appearance really changed that much?_ She looked over at Matthew, who was standing in the corner dressed as Iron Man.

He rolled his eyes and gave her a crooked smile.

"Pfft. I told you they wouldn't get it, Artie," she said, laughing at her brother's expression. Mattie had told her earlier that the other nations might not recognize her, except for Arthur and maybe Kiku. "I shoulda went with one of the more obvious costumes."

"Vhat are you talking about, Fräulein?" Ludwig asked. He stroked his chin with a furry paw. Alfred/Amelia admired the fact that he went for "scary werewolf". It suited him a little too well; poor Germany could be scary even when he wasn't trying to be. Alfred/Amelia tried not to laugh when she saw Feliciano next to him. He was trying to match Ludwig except he looked like a puppy, even though she was sure he was also going for "scary werewolf".

Arthur sighed. "Take a good look at her before you assume she's not one of us," he said. "My companion's costume is linked to her identity."

Alfred/Amelia noticed Arthur smile slightly. _He's having as much fun with this as I am,_ she thought, shocked that she didn't mind him joining her in the little game.

Gilbert looked her up and down. The group moved in a little closer. A few nations behind him started murmuring. Kiku laughed quietly, covering his mouth with his hand. Alfred/Amelia liked that he'd chosen to dress as a kistune. It fit his personality perfectly; Kiku was not always who he appeared to be and he also liked to play a joke or two every now and then.

"Artie, we should just tell them," Alfred/Amelia said, feeling nervous. "I don't think they get it. You'd think at least Francis would remember since it's thanks to him my costume's inspiration even exists."

Arthur held up his hand. "Give them a moment," he said.

She looked down at her costume to see if there was something wrong with it and realized she wasn't holding her props correctly. She fixed them so that they were in the correct hands.

"Zat outfit does look familiar, very familiar," France said. He opened his mouth to say something more, but stopped, his eyes growing wide as he realized what the costume was symbolizing. All that exited his mouth was a squeak.

"Pfft!" Alfred/Amelia heard Arthur let out small laugh. She bit her lip and tried not to laugh as well.

"I know what you're saying, Francis," Elizabeta said. "I feel like I've seen this 'look' somewhere before." She had dressed as a nurse, also with devil horns and a tail. She was carrying a shovel, which helped her to coordinate perfectly with Austria. She paced around Alfred/Amelia, giving her a once-over.

The door to the ballroom opened, and a non-nation dressed as a chef walked in and set down some snacks he was carrying on a tray.

Alfred/Amelia almost dropped her props when she saw him. _Holy Hell's Kitchen Nightmares! That's Chef Gordon Ra—Rams—, _she thought, her head reeling from fan-worship.

The chef turned and glanced at her. "Bloody brilliant Lady Liberty costume," he said, flashing a thumbs up. "Reminds me of my visits to New York. Even the shoes offer a wonderful interpretation of the real thing, yes?"

_He noticed the shoes, and he knows why I broke the chains on them! _Alfred/Amelia thought, excitement welling up in her chest. She hurried over to him, switched both props to her left hand and grasped his hand with her right. "Yes!" she said, enthusiastically shaking his hand. "You're awesome! I thought I was the only one who knew about that detail. By the way, I've watched _every one_ of your shows. I love them! You rock!"

Chef Ramsay looked embarrassed. "Thank you, Madam. Now if you'll excuse me, my assistant and I need to bring in your dinners," he said, releasing her hand and walking out the way he came.

"I need to get his autograph," Alfred/Amelia said. "It's so awesome that he's here! He's like a cooking hero!"

Someone dropped a glass, and it shattered. This pulled Alfred/Amelia out of her hero-worship, and she noticed that everyone had the same expression as Francis (except for Feliciano, Antonio, and Gilbert who still looked confused). The noise from the glass broke the silence as well.

"Amérique?" France said finally.

"Yeah. Took you guys long enough, and you had to have help at that," she said, glancing at the assembled nations and smirking.

Suddenly the room was filled with noise. Alfred/Amelia had a hard time hearing what they were saying since they were all speaking in their own languages all at once. She could tell that they were all expressing differing levels of surprise and "What The Freak?", though.

When they finally quieted down, she walked over to the food, picked up a candied apple, and bit into it. She placed a hand on her hip. "Yeah. Artie used one of his spells for this costume. Pretty 'magical', huh?" she said, looking over at Arthur.

He face-palmed, and she felt embarrassed but couldn't figure out why. _That was a funny pun, so why is Artie? _she thought_. Maybe he's getting a headache? _"So are we going to start partying or not?" she asked.

"Vhat the hell?" Gilbert suddenly yelled. "First Hungary, now _**you**_, America? How on earth did you hide it all these years? Potztausend!"

All the nations turned to stare at Gilbert, and Ludwig mirrored Arthur.

"I didn't hide it! It's a costume, Gil, _**just for tonight**_," Alfred/Amelia said, getting slightly irritated, "It was a spell that Artie had made . . . uh . . . for me. I wanted a real shocker this year." She glanced over to Arthur. If he appreciated the fact that she'd hidden the fact that he'd originally made the spell for himself, he wasn't showing it on his face.

That explanation was enough for all the other nations; they decided to go back to conversing with each other.

"But it looks so real . . ." Gilbert stopped as if he was suddenly remembering something, and his face crimsoned.

Alfred/Amelia immediately realized what he was recalling and laughed. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and started to guide him away from the other nations. "I know. That's because it _**is **_real. Artie's magic is pretty awesome, huh?" she said loud enough for the other nations to hear if they were eavesdropping. She grabbed Gilbert by the collar of the hoodie and pulled him down enough to put him in a head-lock.

He coughed lightly.

"Mention what happened this morning, and I'll make sure you regret it," she whispered, tightening her grip on his neck.

Gilbert struggled to breathe and tugged at her arm. Alfred/Amelia had no intention of following up on her threat, but she knew that he didn't know that.

Chef Ramsay and Sous Chef Scott wheeled in two carts loaded with full dinner plates and started placing them at the tables that were set up at one end of the room.

Alfred/Amelia immediately released Gilbert who gasped for breath and rubbed his neck.

"I'm sorry about what happened," he said, "but you need to learn to lock your doors from now on . . . You make a really hot voman by the vay." He smiled mischievously.

"So are you supposed to be some sort of demon?" she asked him, ignoring her friend's comment.

"I'm a _**black **_devil," Gilbert said, posing. "The main bad-ass of evil."

"I personally think you're doing it wrong," Austria said, walking up to the pair. "You should dress more like my devil; it's much more sophisticated."

Elizabeta walked up to them as well, her shovel propped over her shoulder. "Yeah, you should be more subtle like me and Roderich here," she said.

"So are you two here as a couple?" Alfred/Amelia asked.

"This is just a coincidence!" both nations stated, pointing at each other.

Gilbert scoffed. "And Ol' Fritz vas just an old man," he said.

Roderich and Elizabeta turned scarlet and looked at their shoes.

"You two should just confess about your relationship already," he continued. "Although, I don't understand vhat you like in _**drag queens**_, Roddy."

"Why you little . . ." Elizabeta said, raising her shovel above her head.

Gilbert dashed away, just barely dodging her swings.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, dinner is served," Chef Ramsay said, gesturing toward the tables. The nations all moved towards the tables as he turned to Arthur. "We'll return in about an hour to clean up. After that, we'll leave you to enjoy yourselves. My crew will come by tomorrow morning around 7:00 a.m. to clean up the rest."

"Excuse me, could I please, please, please have your autograph before you go?" Alfred/Amelia begged as she hurried up to where he and Arthur were standing.

Chef Ramsay looked embarrassed. "Certainly . . . um . . . I'll bring one of my photos made especially for that purpose." He turned to his assistant. "Scott, we have some in the van, don't we?"

"Yes Chef," Sous Chef Scott said.

"Can I have your autograph too?" Alfred/Amelia asked Sous Chef Scott.

Now it was his turn to look embarrassed. "Sure, if that's all right with the Chef," he said.

Chef Ramsay nodded. "I think we have some photographs of you in there too," he said. "We'll pre-sign it, just in case you are busy when we come back. Who should we write it for?"

"Al . . . Amel . . . Ameri . . . no . . .," Alfred/Amelia said, struggling to pick the best name to give them.

"Alamel Amerino?" Chef Ramsay. "That's an unusual name. That's the first time I think either of us has ever heard of one like that, yes?"

Sous Chef Scott nodded.

"No. That's not my name," she said. "Could you sign it to both Alfred and Amelia? My . . . um . . . brother's a fan too, but he couldn't be here."

The two nodded and then left.

"Well, _**that **_wasn't awkward," Arthur said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Alfred/Amelia felt her cheeks crimson as she turned around to look at him. "You gonna tease me about it all night?" she asked.

Arthur shook his head. He held out his arm to escort her. "I think I'll let it go with just that. Let's go eat, Miss Liberty," he said, smiling.

The other nations sitting at the table Arthur and Alfred/Amelia ended up at stared at her as she ate, Arthur included.

She set down her utensils and looked around. "I-I-is there something wrong?" she asked, nervously.

Yao pushed back the extra-long sleeves of his costume and shook his head, almost losing the charm hanging from the hat he was wearing.

No matter how much she racked her brain, Alfred/Amelia couldn't figure out what Yao's costume was supposed to be. _Is he some sort of ghost, demon, vampire, or mystical creature from China?_ she wondered. Regardless, the red, purple-blue, and gold outfit looked elegant and regal on him.

"We've just never seen you eat like that, aru," Yao said.

"Is the way I'm eating that strange?" Alfred/Amelia asked, picking up the fork and knife again.

Russia nodded. "You're eating like a civilized person instead of just shoving it all in like a starving animal at a trough," he said.

Alfred/Amelia frowned. _What are you implying, you jerk?_ she mentally said to him. "Mattie taught me how to eat like a girl," she stated, scowling at him. "Although I can't get the way you guys do it, so I'm keeping my fork in my right hand, and you'll all have to deal with it. By the way, Russia, that costume totally doesn't suit you."

Russia brought a paw up to his collar and then to the ears on top of his head. "Why do you say that?" he asked, looking confused. "The dormouse from _Alice in Wonderland_ is a perfectly fine costume for any country, da? I was just trying to match my dear friend, Lithuania."

"No one asked you to," Toris said, trembling. He was dressed as the Mad Hatter. The purple, pinks and reds from the whole outfit somehow matched the ivory and gold in Russia's costume perfectly.

"Yeah, like, how did you even know that what we were going as?" Poland said. "You've totally ruined our theme." He glowered at Russia. He was dressed as Alice, and the frown didn't have any effect. It only made him look more adorable.

"I'm so sorry." Katyusha sobbed into her lamb. Ukraine's Little Bo Peep costume drooped along with her.

Feliks and Toris turned to look at her in disbelief.

_She could use some lessons from me about keeping secrets from her brother, _Alfred/Amelia mused._ Although, maybe she can't lie to Russia. _

"Brother, you could _**always**_ change into the tuxedo I brought for you," Natalia suggested, pushing back her wedding veil to bite into her food.

Russia grimaced. "Th-Th-thank you, my dear sister, but I'm happy with my costume," he said as the color drained out of his face. "We should try to compete with that trio over there, da?" He pointed over to Sweden, Finland, and Sealand, who had dressed as Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear, respectively.

Finland was protesting to the group they were talking to that he'd "voted for something more manly, but this is what we drew out of the hat." He continued by saying that he had the bad luck of drawing the female role out as well.

Right on schedule, Chef Ramsay and Sous Chef Scott returned; they placed several dessert options on the snack table and started clearing the empty dinner plates.

Alfred/Amelia wasted no time in heading to the table for a dessert. The female nations immediately surrounded her and gave off an aura to the men of "Stay away". She picked up on this and felt nervous.

"We have a few questions for you," Belgium said. She was dressed as a gypsy. The plum and gold colors offset her hair wonderfully.

"C," Alfred/Amelia said matter-of-factually.

"What? You speak Spanish now?" Wy asked. "Is that part of the spell?" She swung the broom to her witch costume over her shoulder.

"No I'm a C-cup," Alfred/Amelia said. "Isn't that what you were about to ask me?"

"We don't want to know your bra size!" Seychelles scolded. "Did you share that just to rub it in?" She looked down at her chest; she was exposing what she had in her blue and green mermaid costume, and she still couldn't compete with Alfred/Amelia's almost completely covered-up body.

Liechtenstein, dressed in a cute, green-and-orange fairy princess costume, also looked down at her chest. She began to give off an aura of despair.

"That's what I figured you all would want to know. It's what _**I**_ would have asked," Alfred/Amelia said, scratching her head. "Well, if not that, then what did you want to ask me?"

"So what's it like being a guy who's turned into a girl?" Elizabeta asked, licking her lips.

MeiMei nodded. She was dressed in what looked like a cross between a cherry-blossom fairy and a geisha. The mix of pink, red, and white flattered her dark hair and warm brown eyes.

_She probably wore that to get Kiku's attention,_ Alfred/Amelia thought glancing over to where her friend was standing. Sure enough, Kiku was eating some cake and staring only at MeiMei.

"Never mind what she said. What I want to know is are you attracted to us girls still, or do you now have a yen for the guys?" MeiMei asked.

Elizabeta smacked her on the arm. "I told you we were going to work that part subtly into the conversation," she scolded her as MeiMei rubbed her arm. "Now she might not tell us."

Alfred/Amelia raised an eyebrow. "'Might not tell us' what?" she asked.

"Have you and Arthur made out yet?" MeiMei asked.

Elizabeta's mouth dropped open.

Natalia, Katyusha, Belgium, Seychelles, and Wy all blushed.

Alfred/Amelia mirrored them.

Liechtenstein looked confused.

MeiMei grinned and looked eager.

"Do you even understand what 'subtly' means?" Elizabeta asked her.

MeiMei shrugged. "I just think that we shouldn't beat around the bush," she said. "You want some new material, and we're all curious."

"What do you mean by 'made out'?" Liechtenstein asked. "What have they 'made out'?"

All the women turned to look at the innocent teen looking back at them.

"We'll tell you when you are a little older, hon," Elizabeta said.

"Why not share now?" Francis said from behind the group.

All of the women turned to look at him and glared. Somehow he'd managed to sneak up and eavesdrop on the whole conversation.

"This is 'girl time' right now," MeiMei said.

France wagged a finger at them. "Non, non. The answers to such questions I am curious about as well," he said, smiling broadly. "Besides, Liechtenstein needs to learn about zat part of life eventually, no?" France turned to the Liechtenstein and smiled. "Mon cher petit, to have 'made out' means to have kissed, among other things."

"Really? I never knew it had another meaning," Liechtenstein cried, clasping her hands together. "Big Brother never told me."

"Francis, I would stop there if I were you," Belgium said, "unless you want Vash on your bad side."

"I educated Feliciano about l'amour, and he turned out all right, did he not?" France protested.

The rest of the ladies groaned and turned back to Alfred/Amelia, ignoring the French pest.

Alfred/Amelia once again felt like trapped prey. She glanced at each of the women looking at her. None of them were wearing any makeup either, just like her. A few of them were wearing lip-gloss or lip-stain. "Wow. You're all natural beauties," she observed, remembering what the makeup ladies had said.

All of them blushed at this comment, and some touched their hands to their faces.

"Don't change the subject; answer the question," Elizabeta said.

"Which one? The one you asked or the two that MeiMei asked?" Alfred/Amelia asked.

"All of them," Natalia insisted, flashing a blade from who-knows-where.

Alfred/Amelia grabbed Natalia's wrist and easily snatched the knife out of her hands. "Natalia, that doesn't work on me, remember?" she said. "I don't give into threats, but I'll answer your questions anyway." She handed the knife to France, which made all the blood drain out of his face.

"I'm a lover, not a fighter; what am I supposed to do with zis?" he said quietly.

Alfred/Amelia ignored him. "Being a guy turned into a girl feels pretty much the same, except now I'm smaller in some places and bigger in others . . ." she hesitated for a moment and looked at Liechtenstein, "and I'm not going to say the rest because it's not appropriate to talk about whether I like guys or girls while children are present, and . . ." Alfred/Amelia glanced again at Liechtenstein.

The young teen's eyes were intense and sparkling.

"The last part is none of your business. Hey, look there's ice cream," Alfred/Amelia said quickly as she walked over to the snack table and grabbed a bowl of chocolate ice cream. She poured a generous helping of fudge topping on it, then some chocolate shavings, and finally a small sprinkling of sliced almonds. _Mmm chocolate_, she mused.

"I told you we shouldn't have pushed it," MeiMei said.

Elizabeta let out a sound of frustration. "_You _told _**me**_?" she shouted.

"So ze child is not nearby," Francis said as he walked up to where Alfred/Amelia was scarfing down her ice cream. "How about you answer zat second question? Which gender lights your fire? If it is males, may I be ze first to_—_how do you say it in ze States_—_take you out?"

Alfred/Amelia almost choked on her ice cream. "This costume is only for tonight, Francis," she stated. "Even if this was for longer, I'm not interested in you."

France raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Oh? Who said you needed to be 'interested' in me?" he said. "Is that a requirement for you to want to faire l'amour?"

Alfred/Amelia blushed slightly. _How can he say such perverted and embarrassing things all the time and not feel ashamed of himself? _she wondered_. Stupid super-flirt France._ "Maybe it's not a requirement for you, but I need to be interested in someone before I can do _anything_ with them," she stated.

"So if not my sexy-self, who are you interested in zen?" Francis asked.

"That's none of your damn business," Arthur said, walking up to them and grabbing a dish of ice cream.

As soon as she looked at him, Alfred/Amelia felt the heat flow into her cheeks. _Damn. He keeps __looking sexier each time I look at him,_ she thought. She blinked. _Wait . . . what in the . . ._

"Stop pestering her, you bloody Frog," Arthur demanded.

"Are you implying there are other nations she'd rather spend time with?" France asked, facing off with Arthur.

"You called~?" Russia said, walking up to the trio. He grabbed some cake and dumped a bowlful of ice cream over it.

France and England turned to the larger nation completely flabbergasted.

He smiled at them and then turned to Alfred/Amelia. "You know, America, if you'd been like you are now, the Cold War would have been a lot more fun," he said, looking over the now-smaller rival nation. "You should stay like this; it will change how I'll treat you later when all becomes one with Russia."

Alfred/Amelia felt the shiver all the way down to her toes. "That statement was both weird and creepy as usual, Russia," she said. "I'll say it again: this costume is only for tonight, so back off. By the way, I'm _**definitely**_ not interested in you either, so don't even ask, Commie."

With that comment, she walked away from the trio of nations. "This is totally not the reaction I expected from the male nations," she mumbled, fanning herself to get her cheeks to cool down. _Well, actually, France's reaction didn't really surprise me, but the others . . . _she thought.

"Hey everyone, let's play a trivia game to see how much ve know about each other," Gilbert announced. Several nations stared dumbfounded. It was unusual for him to suggest such a civilized game. "Everyone write down three trivia facts about yourself, your favorite drink and least favorite drink on these cards and then pass them back to me," he said, handing out index cards and pencils.

The group murmured slightly, but did as he asked.

"I just discovered England has quite the collection of alcohol," Gilbert continued.

"Bloody hell! Where were you snooping, you tosser?" Arthur said.

Gilbert ignored him. "The penalty for not answering the trivia correctly is that you have to drink a full glass of the drink you hate," he stated. "Answer correctly and your reward is that you get one sip of your favorite drink."

Several nations laughed.

"That's my money you're going to be using for that!" Arthur said.

"Do not overreact as usual, Angleterre," France said. "You are the host of zis party. Zis will make it more amusing for us."

"Any excuse to get drunk," Arthur said quietly.

Alfred/Amelia walked up to him and smacked him on the back. "Come one, Artie," she said. "I'm sure that we all know enough about each other that no one's going to get wasted."

Arthur didn't look convinced but smiled anyway.

Twenty minutes later, and many, many glasses of vodka, gin, whiskey, wine, rum, and several other types of alcohol later, more than half the group was a little more than tipsy. Sealand, Seychelles, and Liechtenstein were the only ones completely sober since none of them drank alcohol, and therefore, listed drinks that were non-alcoholic.

Alfred/Amelia was also not as tipsy as some of the others because she'd listed her least favorite drink as "tea" and her most favorite as "coffee". The other nations had forced her to change her choices, so she picked wine as her least favorite and beer as a favorite (it was her policy never to get drunk around this bunch).

"I can't believe I didn't know thata Lovino knew how to carve statues," Spain said as he downed his 5th glass of absinthe. He slumped down in his chair and giggled. Spain had decided to dress as a mummy, and the wrapping was starting to come off; from what was already exposed, it didn't look like he was wearing much underneath.

Arthur looked slightly panicked.

_Spain would pick the one of the strongest alcohol drinks out there as his least favorite*, _Alfred/Amelia thought, feeling amused at the situation._ He's more a wine and sangria kinda guy._

"Kesesese, you're totally vaaaaysted man," Gilbert said, barely able to stand up himself.

France was hanging on his shoulders and nodded. He'd also already had way too much vodka and wine.

"Perhaps we should change games," Arthur said, his face pink from too much vodka and whiskey. "I think we've all already had too much to drink. Anyone have any ideas?"

"You know what?" Spain said, splashing his drink and walking up to him. "I've beena meaning to shay this all night. Whatsa with thata costume of yours?"

"I beg your pardon?" Arthur asked, backing up slightly.

"I've got an idea," Elizabeta said. "I found this in that closet over there." She displayed a fancy-looking karaoke machine.

"I love karaoke; let's do that," Alfred/Amelia said.

The men ignored them.

"You're trying to rub in the fact thata you bullied me all those years ago," Spain continued. "Didn't you useta wear thata all the time back then?"

"I sot so too, mon ami," France said, walking over to the pair. "What were you trying to imply by wearing that?"

Elizabeta looked back and forth between the two nations and Arthur.

"What's taking so long, Elizabeta?" Alfred/Amelia asked. _Spain needs to take a chill pill; that's ancient history, _she thought. _I wouldn't have reacted that way even if Artie had worn his old military uniform from the 1700s . . . Actually, that would have been kinda hot . . . wait . . . I __**did not**_ _just think that._

"I'll just go plug it in and get it set up," Elizabeta said. She walked over to an outlet.

"You're over-reacting Spain," Arthur said. "This outfit is one of my favorites, and it looks good on me. Those are the only reasons I wore it."

"That's funny; it doesn't seem to fit right," Elizabeta said, trying to force the plug into the outlet.

"Here let me help," Alfred/Amelia said, grabbing the plug. She shoved it into the outlet as hard as she could.

"What are you two ladies talking ab_—_? Not that outlet!" Arthur called to them too late.

Sparks flew out of the outlet and both ladies jumped back. The entire room went completely black.

"Ve~ I'm scared, Ludwig!"

"Stop grabbing me there, Feli!"

"Seychelles, chère où vous êtes? Je vous protégerai."

"Like, how dare you! Don't touch me!"

"Does anyone have a torch?"

"I do!" Alfred/Amelia flipped on the flashlight.

Arthur was standing right in its beam, and it put an almost ghostly look to his costume.

Spain was merely inches from where Arthur was. "¡Salvame Lovino! ¡Él ha vuelto para terminarme!" he screamed, spilling his drink everywhere and pushing Arthur away from him.

Arthur lost his balance and crashed into the snack table.

Spain clung to Romano in an effort to get away from his apparent "nightmare-who-had-returned".

"Get offa me you, tomato-chomping oaf!" Romano said, smacking Spain on the head. "You're pulling off my wrapping!" He'd also dressed as a mummy and had already protested several times that it wasn't to match Spain. No one believed him (of course).

"America, give me that," Germany said, taking the flashlight from her. "England, vhere is your fuse box?"

"Down the hall on the left," Arthur said, getting up from the table.

Germany walked out of the ballroom, and within a minute, the lights came back on.

"Artie, you're a mess," Alfred/Amelia pointed out.

Arthur looked down at his costume. It was covered in a variety of sweets and other foods and smelled like absinthe. "Bollocks," he said. "I'll have to send this to the cleaners now. You're footing the bill, by the way, Spain."

Spain let out a sound of protest but nothing more.

"Like, let go of me, you pervert!" Poland said, smacking France on the head for what looked like the third time.

France stopped groping him when he saw who he was holding on to. "Qu'est-ce qui est cela? You are not Seychelles," Francis said.

Seychelles, who looked like she was about to cry, peeked out from behind Hungary, who had managed to pull out her frying-pan for self-defense.

"Okay, that's enough of that," Elizabeta said. "We're doing the karaoke without any alcohol. Everyone sober up a little!" She pointed to the coffee and tea dispensers on a table next to the messed-up snack table.

"Elizabeta, use the outlet on the north end; you can also use the orchestra loft for a stage," Arthur said, brushing cake off of his sleeve. "The outlet you used before is an older one that I haven't replaced yet."

Elizabeta nodded and carried the machine over to where Arthur had indicated.

Arthur headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Alfred/Amelia asked.

"I'm going to go change into another costume," he said.

"You have more than one costume?" she asked. _How many costumes did he prepare?_

"Well, the one I'm going to change into was my next choice," he explained. "This pirate costume was more unique than it was."

"_**This one**_ was the most unique," Alfred/Amelia said quietly, pointing at her body. "Sorry for stealing it from you."

Arthur went a little pale and nodded.

_That's an odd reaction_, she thought.

"It's all right," he said. "It looks better on you anyway." Arthur hurried out of the ballroom.

Alfred/Amelia felt her face grow hot as the blood flowed once again into her cheeks. _Dammit! Stop reacting like that!_ she scolded herself. Suddenly, she felt a craving for that coffee of Arthur's. _Guess no __one will miss me if I slip up there for a minute and drink some. Maybe it'll sober me up a little._

"Okay everyone, every nation's name is in this hat twice," Elizabeta was saying as Alfred/Amelia sneaked out the door. "If any of you draw each other's names out, then you have to sing a duet together." Groans mixed with laughter echoed the ballroom as Alfred/Amelia hurried up the stairs.

She noticed that she had about one cupful left and made a mental note that she needed to ask Arthur to make some more for her. It still tasted just as weird as before, but for some reason, she liked it enough to drink it even when it was cold.

_I wonder if Artie's ready to go,_ she thought as she wiped her mouth and headed for his room. _I'm gonna need his help to get down the stairs again._ She opened the door without bothering to knock. "Artie, are you ready to go—?" she said as she looked for him.

"Close the door, you git!" Arthur hollered, half-dressed in a police officer uniform. All he had on were his pants and the police cap. His arms were barely through the armholes of his white shirt, leaving his chest completely bare; he hadn't even put on the navy-blue jacket/tunic or black tie and gloves yet.

Alfred/Amelia stared at him and suddenly couldn't remember how to breathe.

"How many times have I told you to knock and wait for an answer?" Arthur yelled, quickly pulling on his shirt. His face turned a bright crimson.

"Holy—! I'm sorry, Artie!" Alfred/Amelia screamed, turning around and slamming the door behind her. The image of Arthur's bare skin sparkled in her memory. In her mind's eye, Arthur was removing his clothing, not putting it on. Her whole face felt like a volcano, and her heart started pounding in her ears.

Alfred/Amelia felt something warm trickle from her nose, and she wiped whatever it was away and looked down at her hand. _What the hell? Why am __**I**__ getting a bloody nose?_ she thought, clapping a hand to her nose and running to her room, not caring if she sprained her ankle.

When she finally got the bleeding to stop, she checked herself out in the mirror to make sure she looked okay. "Ah crap," she said as she saw a couple red drops on the bodice of her dress.

Alfred/Amelia searched on her cell phone on how to handle this situation. She found some cleaning directions and stripped off the dress to soak it in cold water. Then she put the emerald tiara away in the jewelry box it came in. The blood hadn't stained her underwear, but she changed it anyway to match the new costume she'd decided to wear.

Alfred/Amelia took one last look in the mirror to make sure everything looked right before walking down the hallway to Arthur's room. This time, she knocked and waited for his answer.

"Yes?" Arthur said as he opened the door. He stared at her. "Al . . . Amelia, why did _**you**_ change?"

"They're going to be doing karaoke next, and I can't move around very well in that other costume, so if I want to dance while I sing . . ." she lied. Alfred/Amelia danced some steps that she remembered from a 1920s dance. The rose-petal fringe on the flapper-style dress fluttered and shook beautifully. She whirled around, and the knee-length skirt raised slightly, flashing some thigh.

"You don't need to dance that enthusiastically," Arthur said, crimsoning and reaching out to stop her from moving. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into her dance, humming a popular jazz tune. To her surprise, Arthur started humming it too, grabbed her around the waist, and fell into step with her easily.

As they reached the end of the song, Arthur twirled her around a few times and lowered her down into a low dip. Alfred/Amelia felt her heart skip a beat; ever since she was a teenager, she'd always been slightly taller than him, so that maneuver would have been almost impossible any other time. They both stayed that way for a moment until they made eye contact. Arthur brought her back up to a standing position and released her. He straightened his clothes and cleared his throat, his cheeks slightly pink.

"This costume's okay, right? You said you liked it," Alfred/Amelia said as she looked at him, her cheeks feeling a little warm.

Arthur smiled, and it made her nervous. "I thought you were rejecting that one because you didn't want to wear my national flower," he said.

"Well, now that everyone knows who I am, they'll know that this symbolizes _**my**_ rose." She smirked and folded her arms.

"Well then, I take it the reason you're back here is because you need help down the stairs in those shoes," Arthur said, pointing at the red heels.

"Nah, I can handle it," she said. "After all, if I can dance in them_—_"

"Suit yourself," Arthur said as he finished straightening his tie. He strode past her quickly.

"Artie, wait!" Alfred/Amelia called, stumbling a little as she tried to run after him. "I lied. Please help me?"

Arthur stopped and held out his gloved hand. "Come on, silly idiot," he said, laughing.

* * *

**A/N **

**Thank you for indulging me and allowing me to show you what went through America's mind last chapter and this chapter. I hope it was as fun for you to read as it was for me to write it ^_^ Karaoke singing coming up! **

**Police officer was a close runner-up winner in the poll for Arthur's costume, so I decided to use it (it was my personal favorite costume). Also, it appears that Alfred/Amelia is the winner for the name America is going to go by (I'll close the poll now since it hasn't changed in over a week).**

**I know many of you have probably seen them already, but I've put links in my profile to pics of the wonderful illustrations Himaruya did for Halloween this year, which I based my costume ****descriptions on (I'm also including some fan-art that I based Arthur's costumes on** . . . **I can't find ****any images of Alfred/Amelia's costumes, not the Lady Liberty or rose-petal flapper-style dress** . . . **T_T you'll have to use your imagination folks).**

***Absinthe is an alcoholic spirit famous for its beautiful green color (I learned this from a friend). Since I've never drank it, I did some research about it: It is also famous for having a very high alcohol content: 50–75% Alcohol By Volume (ABV), making it 100 to 150 proof. Whiskey's standard 40% ABV (80 proof) is like child's play by comparison. The high ABV is why absinthe is usually served diluted (3-5 parts water to 1 part absinthe). A popular drink choice for writers and artists around the late 19th century, absinthe earned the nickname "Green Fairy" b/c some claimed to have experienced hallucinations after drinking it. Research today has proven that this claim was actually an exaggeration (creative people taking creative license).**

* * *

**Translations: **

"**Alakazam" is one of the most mysterious of the magic words; it expresses something unobservable. It describes a contradiction or a paradox, which makes it appropriate for slight-of-hand and illusions demonstrating the impossible. A magician will say "nothing is up my sleeve" as a way to distract you from what they are really doing-it's part of the trick. Both Arthur and Amelia did a little fibbing and distraction in this chapter, so I felt it was an appropriate title.**

**(~_^) = ;) {this is the East Asian way of doing a winking emoticon, just in case you didn't know}**

**Warum zur Hölle schlägst du mich?** **= Why in the hell did you hit me?**

**Potztausend! = Damn!**

**Mon cher petit = my dear little one**

**l'amour = love (of course** :P . . . **this is France we're talking about, after all)**

**faire l'amour = make love (France is sooo. . . .aauuhhgg; it's so embarrassing to translate his words =_=). **

**Angleterre = England**

**Seychelles, chère où vous êtes? Je vous protégerai = Seychelles, dear where are you? I'll protect you.**

**torch (British English) = flashlight (American English)**

**¡Salvame Lovino! ¡Él ha vuelto para terminarme! = Save me Lovino! He's returned to finish me off!**

**Qu'est-ce qui est cela? = What is this?**


	9. Viola! Owa Tagu Siam! Truth or Dare!

**Step 9: Viola! Owa Tagu Siam! Let's Play Truth or Dare!**

Arthur and Alfred/Amelia arrived back at the party just as Canada was finishing singing "Invisible" as a solo on the karaoke machine. No one appeared to be paying any attention to the poor North American nation . . . no one except Russia, that is, who clapped enthusiastically. Canada blanched and looked as though he wanted the song to be over quickly.

_Poor Bro, I wouldn't want that kind of attention either_, Alfred/Amelia thought.

"I thought we were singing duets," Arthur said to Elizabeta.

"That's still the plan," she said, "but if you draw out your own name, then you sing a solo." She pushed a hat at him. "Draw out two names; you guys are the last to select names."

Alfred/Amelia reached into the hat after Arthur had finished. "That song is kinda . . . I dunno . . . right and wrong at the same time for my Bro," she said.

Elizabeta laughed. "You know what the funny part is?" she said. "I just set it on random selection for a solo and that's what came up. That machine is incredible, England. It actually surfs the Internet for popular songs and then either finds the karaoke for it or converts it into a karaoke version; it even projects images on the wall behind the singer."

"Well, Kiku gave me the beta version of the newest model as a gift for St. George's Day*," Arthur said.

Canada finished his song and hurried off of the orchestra stage where the karaoke machine had been set up.

Germany walked up to the "stage", picked up the microphone, and stood stiffly in front of everyone. The opening notes and percussion for Britney Spears' "You Drive Me Crazy" started. "Elizabeta, I can't sing this!" he said. "It's a song for a girl!"

"It's already started; you'll lose points if you miss any more," Elizabeta stated, smirking. "You don't want to pay the penalty if you get a score below 75%, do you?"

Ludwig opened his mouth to protest again.

"Ve~ you have a wonderful voice; Go for it Ludwig!" Feliciano shouted.

Ludwig turned bright red and sang, "You drive me crazy! I just can't sleep! / I'm so excited; I'm in too deep. / Vhooooaaa . . . Cra~zy! but it feels all right / Baby thinking of you keeps me up all night!", all while staring at Feliciano, who blushed and suddenly looked shy.

"Soooo . . . What's the penalty?" Alfred/Amelia asked as Germany stiffly, but accurately, hit every note and word. Even his pacing of the lyrics was perfect. Several nations, obviously still a little drunk, started dancing.

"It was no fun just having them sing, so I turned this into another penalty game. I've put all the nations' names in another hat. If any solo or duet gets below 75%, then that 'loser' has to draw out a name from the hat. If it's a duet, then each member of the duet draws a name for a separate penalty; solos only have to draw out one name. The nation whose name is drawn then proposes a Truth or a Dare," she said. "Hong Kong already lost. He sang 'I Will Survive' rather monotone and didn't score well; he drew France, and of course, he picked 'Truth'. Only a fool would have picked 'Dare'."

"So what was the result?" Alfred/Amelia asked, grinning.

Elizabeta blushed. "It's too embarrassing to repeat," she said, smiling. "I'll just say Sealand's and Liechtenstein's ears had to be covered for the answer; it was too late for the question." She laughed. "It was very funny! Too bad you missed it. Maybe you can get one of your buddies to tell you later." She turned to Arthur who was staring at the two slips of paper in his hand. "So England, who's names did you get?" she asked him, holding a pen to a clipboard.

Arthur muttered his potential partners' names.

"I'm sorry I didn't quite hear that second one after Sealand," Elizabeta said with a slight smile on her face.

"United States!" Arthur said, turning a deep shade of pink.

Alfred/Amelia felt her face mirror Arthur's expression.

"Well you're lucky," Elizabeta said. "Sealand didn't draw your name, so no duet with him." She turned to Alfred/Amelia and grinned. "And whose names did you draw?"

Alfred/Amelia glanced down at the slips of paper; she hadn't bothered to look at them yet. _What the?_ she thought as she read the names on the paper. "Are you sure you didn't rig these?" she asked.

"You got United Kingdom, didn't you?" Elizabeta asked, smiling wider. "Russia had drawn England's name earlier, and Belarus and Canada drew Russia's name, so there was no chance of a duet. There was only you two left to draw names; we all knew England would either be singing a solo or doing a duet with you." She laughed and wrote down the two nations as a duet.

"Bloody hell, you're getting way too much enjoyment out of this," Arthur said, folding his arms.

Alfred/Amelia noticed his lips twitched slightly upwards for a split-second before returning to the frown he'd put on his face.

"Mi amigo, where is the toilet?" Spain asked, grasping Arthur's arm and looking as green as a pistachio.

Arthur instinctively took a step back. "What's wrong?" he asked in a panicked tone.

"Gilbert's 'sober-up-quick' drink isn't working," Spain moaned, "and then Francis suggested I eat something or drink some coffee, and now my _barriguita_ doesn't feel so good."

"There's some for men and women right over there," Arthur said, pointing to the far side of the ballroom.

Spain looked over to where Arthur had indicated and turned greener from the maneuver. He clapped his hand to his mouth and ran for them.

"I also got Liechtenstein," Alfred/Amelia said.

"She drew your name earlier, so you'll be doing two duets," Elizabeta stated.

Spain reached the men's restroom quickly but struggled with the door, growing greener by the second.

"Oi! Don't make a mess! Get in there!" Arthur shouted and ran over to Spain who managed to open the door before Arthur reached him. Arthur stopped outside the door and leaned against the wall, trying to act as if he wasn't concerned anymore. After a minute of listening to Germany sing, Arthur shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking back over to where Elizabeta and Alfred/Amelia were standing.

"I haven't tried out my singing voice in this body yet," Alfred/Amelia said. "I know I sound awesome in my other body, but I don't even know what I'm capable of in this one."

"You'll be fine," Elizabeta said. "Besides, it's karaoke. It doesn't have to sound perfect; you just need to get a score of 75% or higher, which only requires that you get the notes, pacing, and lyrics close to the original."

Germany finished his song. The score meter flashed an 80; he let out a huge sigh of relief, set down the microphone, and stepped off the stage.

"There's a perfect example right there." She gestured at Germany as Arthur walked back up to the pair of female nations. "Nice work, Ludwig! Although I think Lena Meyer-Landrut's 'Satellite' fits you and Feliciano better," Elizabeta said.

Both Alfred/Amelia and Arthur stared at her in disbelief.

Feliciano saw that Ludwig was finished and started walking over to their group.

"I had nothing to do vith the Eurofision 2010 song for my country," Germany protested, blushing furiously. "That blue undervear part vas nicht my fault either, Hungary."

"You sure? I've seen you walking around your house in your boxers, and I wonder if the songwriter has too," she said. "I mean, I happen to know that you are on a first name basis with both the songwriter and the lyricist." Elizabeta winked, and Arthur turned to look at Germany to see his response.

His face crimsoned even more. "I . . . that is . . . you . . . how . . . the songwriter . . . I . . ." Germany sputtered.

"Ve~ You sounded so pretty, Ludwig, just like I knew you would," Feliciano said as he came up and dragged Ludwig away before he could protest any further. The trio of nations watched as Ludwig grabbed something strong to drink.

Elizabeta grinned widely. "I wrote a whole doujinshi on those two while listening to that song," she said, pulling out a notebook and scribbling in it while watching Italy as he hugged Germany and raved about his performance. Germany protested but didn't try to push him away. Elizabeta giggled. "Ludwig is such an adorable uke, and he doesn't even realize it~!" She scribbled some more into her notebook.

"Dang. Fujoshis are scary," Alfred/Amelia said.

Arthur nodded.

"Back to what I was saying," Elizabeta said. "You'll have plenty of time to warm up for it if you want because I already decided to do all the solos first. Next up Belarus!"

Natalia grabbed a mike as the karaoke machine selected a song. She glanced at the title. "Every Breath You Take" by the Police flashed up on the wall behind her. "I don't want to sing this song," she said, bending over and stopping the machine. She tossed a MP3 player to Arthur. "Hook this up to the machine and play number one on the play-list."

"But Belarus you're supposed to sing what's on the—" Elizabeta started to protest until she saw Natalia's dark glare. "Um, I don't think another device will work with—"

"Of course it will. This is one of Kiku's new interactive models; although, I don't know how England got his hands on one. Now plug me in," Natalia demanded, punctuating her words with a knife she pulled from her skirt folds.

Arthur blanched and walked over to the karaoke machine. "For your information, Kiku and I are friends," Arthur said. "That's how I got one." After a minute of fiddling with it, he connected the MP3 player to the machine and pushed start.

An electric beat filled the air. "It's a crime, it's a crime, it's a shame, it's a crime," Natalia sang into the mike.

Alfred/Amelia's eyes grew wide at this first line. _Wait . . . I know this song, _she mused.

Natalia started to sway with the music as she continued the song. "Can't you tell that I'm in love love love / Can't get enough of you, need you night and day!" Natalia belted out while gesturing towards Russia. His face went pale, and he started looking for the nearest exit. "When you're not around I'm tested / I could get arrested carrying on this way."

_Poor Russia, _Alfred/Amelia thought, _he looks so frightened . . . actually, that's really funny._

"I'm going crazy here by myself / I want you and no one else," Natalia continued, staring straight at Russia. "Sending out a signal of my distress / I confess, I'm obsessed."

All the other nations started staring at Russia after hearing these lyrics; several of them looked unsure if they should clap, laugh, or just listen.

"It's a crime, it's a shame, holding your love from me!" Natalia sang, pointing at her brother.

Russia turned to the other nations in response to their stares. "Don't look at me! I don't encourage her!" he stated, gesturing toward his little sister. He turned toward Natalia and started to object to her song in Russian. She ignored her brother and started dancing as she continued the song.

"It's a really good song, isn't it, daze?" someone said behind the two women, causing both of them to jump and let out little shrieks. They turned around to find Korea standing behind them. "Karaoke was invented in my country, you know. Uri nara mansae!"

"Yong Soo, you scared us!" Elizabeta said. "Where did you come from?"

"Ah, well, I went to visit China to show him my Halloween costume, but they told me he was here, daze. No one answered the door, so I just opened it and followed the music. Where is Yao-Hyung, daze?" Yong Soo said, scanning the crowd. Korea was dressed in a red, silk brocade cheongsam with a phoenix pattern and long slits up the sides, which showed off his long legs and red high-heels. His hair was in an up-do with several chestnut-colored strands hanging long, loose, and sexy on his shoulders.

_Wow, if I didn't know Yong Soo was a boy, I'd mistake him for a girl right now,_ Alfred/Amelia thought, guessing he'd added the hair extensions and a little extra padding in "certain areas" to get the look just right.

It was then that Korea noticed Alfred/Amelia staring at him. "Who are you?" he asked, looking confused. "I don't remember a new country being formed lately, daze."

"I'm America!" she stated, smiling. _This is the costume that just keeps on giving_, she thought. _I can't wait to see his reaction._

"Wow! You look fantastic, daze!" he said, looking her up and down.

_Huh? Why isn't he freaking out? _Alfred/Amelia wondered.

"I _**knew**_ cross-dressing for my costume this year was an _**awesome**_ idea, especially since you thought of it too!" Yong Soo stated. "Although I hate to admit that your costume looks more realistic than mine."

Alfred/Amelia noticed he wasn't looking at her face when he said this; his gaze was slightly lower. She felt her face grow hot as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Thankfully, a flash of red and violet in the crowd caught Korea's attention. "Ah! There you are, Yao-gege!" he called, running over to China. "Cool! We color-coordinate, daze!"

"Aiya! Why are you dressed like that? !" Yao shouted as he tried to keep Yong Soo from hugging him.

Watching this exchange, Alfred/Amelia suddenly remembered where she'd heard the song before. "So that's where my BoA CD went," she stated. "Natalia must have borrowed it the last time she visited."

Elizabeta stared at Alfred/America. "Wait you and Belarus . . . ?" she started to ask.

Alfred/America realized what Elizabeta was about to suggest. "Wha? Wait! No way!" she said, panicking and holding up her hands in surrender. "Don't misunderstand, Lizzy. We just like to have karaoke parties. I do it as a favor to Toris to distract her from her 'brother-fixation'."

Elizabeta folded her arms and looked incredulous.

Alfred/Amelia laughed nervously at this expression. "I mean . . . I'm the only nation strong enough to handle her," she continued, sweating slightly. "Listen Lizzy . . . I'm not into crazy chicks."

Elizabeta smirked, whipped out her notebook again and started scribbling in it. "Sure. Whatever you say Al," she said.

Alfred/Amelia looked over to where Arthur was. He seemed fascinated with the owners' manual for his karaoke machine and was looking at it and glancing at the machine every now and then as if he was trying to figure out some special feature.

"I'm not! Danger has no appeal to me at all!" Alfred/Amelia protested. ". . . What are you scribbling in that notebook?"

"You're the world's self-proclaimed hero, and you're not into danger, huh," Elizabeta said, raising an eyebrow.

Alfred/Amelia glanced toward Arthur. He seemed satisfied with how the machine was performing and started walking back over to where the two of them were. "Don't share that I have karaoke parties with Natalia with anyone, please? Toris might get upset," she pleaded.

Elizabeta looked up from her notebook. "Are you sure it's only for Toris' sake that you're worried?" she asked, grinning as she glanced over at Arthur.

Alfred/Amelia looked down at the floor. _Dammit, why can't I think of a response? _

Elizabeta watched Natalia and Russia."Were you even trying to distract her from the object of her affection? What happened to that natural charisma of yours?" she asked.

"I _**was**_ trying . . . very hard . . . it was quite a distraction actually," Alfred/Amelia said, looking up again.

"Who was distracted? You or Belarus?" Elizabeta asked, stifling a laugh.

". . . um . . .," Alfred/Amelia looked around for Arthur again. He had almost reached them. "Well, look at her! Any hot-blooded guy would be distracted by _**that**_," she said, gesturing toward Natalia who was swinging her hips provocatively to the music while staring down Russia who looked like he was about to faint from fear. "Right, Artie?"

"Sorry? What are you talking about?" Arthur asked, as he looked back and forth between Elizabeta.

Alfred/Amelia opened her mouth to reply to his question and only a squeak came out. _Why the hell did I ask him?_ she thought. _He'll think I like Natalia if he knows we were talking about her._

"We were just commenting on how lovely Belarus looks tonight," Elizabeta said.

Alfred/Amelia felt the blood drain out of her face.

Arthur looked over to the nation they were talking about. "I suppose she _**is**_ nice to look at," he stated.

Alfred/Amelia felt a pang in her chest.

"If you like her type," Arthur continued, "which I don't."

Alfred/Amelia let out a sigh of relief when she heard that. _Wait a minute . . . why do I care who Artie likes? _she wondered.

"Besides, I'm more amused by the reaction she's getting out of Russia than anything else about her," Arthur continued. He laughed as he watched Natalia leave the stage and start walking towards Russia. Her score flashed 98.

"Looks like even the karaoke machine knows better than to get between her and Russia," Elizabeta mused.

They watched as Russia hid behind a chair. When she finally reached him, he protested that he needed to "use the facilities" and made a beeline for the bathrooms. Natalia pouted and stomped her foot. She walked over to the karaoke machine, grabbed her MP3 player, and then sat down at the table where Russia had been sitting. Russia reached the bathrooms just as Spain was exiting.

"Brother, you better really need to go in there, or I'm coming in after you!" Natalia shouted.

"Go away!" Russia shouted from inside the restroom.

Antonio slowly walked over to a table and sat down. He laid his head on the tabletop and looked like he wanted to die. Gilbert walked over and sat next to him. He appeared to be struggling between feeling sorry for his friend and enjoying his misery.

"Lovino!" Elizabeta called. "It's your turn."

Antonio perked up at the mention of his former-charge's name.

The Italian walked up to the stage and grabbed a microphone. "Dammit! Why do I hafta do this?" he boomed over the speakers.

"Please, use the mike only for singing," Elizabeta said, walking over to the machine to adjust the sound and other functions.

Some valley girls started talking over the speakers and a beat started up as Lovino's song began.

"Why were you talking about Belarus earlier?"Arthur asked Alfred/Amelia.

"We weren't really _**specifically**_ talking about her," she replied. "Not any more than I'm sure anyone else was. She was making quite a scene."

"Do you think she's pretty?" Arthur asked, ignoring her evasion.

"No! Those were Lizzy's words, not mine," Alfred/Amelia stated. "I don't like her type either."

Arthur looked at her. "So what type _**do**_ you like?" he asked as he folded his arms.

Alfred/Amelia felt her heart skip a beat when his eyes met hers. "I—"

"I like big butts and I cannot lie / You other brothers can't deny," Romano's voice boomed over hers.

Both Arthur's and Alfred/Amelia's mouths dropped open, and they turned to stare at Romano as he continued to rap "Baby Got Back". Several nations cat-called and cheered. It was hard to tell if the Italian nation felt uncomfortable or not about his song because he stared at the teleprompter and just read the lyrics, not making any attempt to make them sound like an actual rap.

"So fellas!" Romano said.

"Yeah!" several male nations, including the Bad Friends Trio, replied.

"Fellas!"

"Yeah!"

"Has your girlfriend got the butt?" Romano asked, crimsoning while reading the lyrics that were coming up next in the rap.

"Hell yeah!" the nations shouted.

"What the bloody hell . . ." Alfred/Amelia heard Arthur say. She pried her eyes away from Romano and looked over at Arthur. His mouth was still hanging open. Something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and she glanced over to where the karaoke machine was sitting.

"Pffft!" Alfred/Amelia let out a small laugh.

Arthur looked at her.

"I think hooking it up to Natalia's MP3 player did something to your machine, because even Lizzy thinks there's something wrong with this choice," she stated, pointing at Elizabeta who was looking frustrated as she clearly was trying to turn off the song.

Arthur shook his head. "Well we'd better get it fixed before our duet," he said.

Alfred/Amelia felt her cheeks grow warm and her heart quicken at the words "our duet".

"There's no way I'm performing something like this," he continued, walking over to where Elizabeta was. They both started playing with the controls. Romano looked a little flustered by this but continued reading off the lyrics as they appeared.

Alfred/Amelia fanned herself and grabbed a cold drink from the snack table before sitting at a table to watch the spectacle.

"Don't stop Romano's song!" Gilbert protested when he noticed Arthur and Elizabeta debating about pulling the plug to reset the machine.

"Yeah, I like what I'ma hearing!" Antonio shouted, seemingly recovered from earlier.

"That's it!" Lovino yelled. "I quit! I don't do things for your entertainment!" He slammed down the mike and walked off the stage. Feedback whistled over the speakers, and several nations covered their ears.

"Wait Lovi~!" Antonio cooed as he followed Lovino who was walking toward some French doors that led to the yard. When he reached them, he tugged on the doors. They didn't budge.

"Those have already been locked for the season," Arthur called. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't break my house."

Romano cursed, walked over to the nearest table, and sat down. He sulked while Spain talked to him, his words indistinct to most around them.

The machine finished the song and flashed a big red 55 on the wall behind the orchestra stage. Most of the nations started laughing. Arthur chuckled and powered the machine off and on again to reset it.

"Che Diavolo! That is _**not**_ fair!" Lovino protested, his face reddening.

France walked over to the hat, grabbed it, and brought it over to the peeved nation. "You could always sing anozer song, mon ami," he said, "but wouldn't it be easier to just take the penalty? Who knows? Maybe you'll draw out someone who's sweet, like Seychelles?"

Lovino looked incredulous but reached into the hat. He pulled out a slip of paper, unfolded it, and silently read the name.

"Well, who did you get?" Antonio asked.

Lovino mumbled something.

"¿Repita por favor?" Spain requested.

"I got you!" Romano yelled, his whole face turning red.

Everyone started chuckling and hooting. Spain got a huge smile on his face. Alfred/Amelia couldn't help but mimic that grin.

"Truth or Dare, mi pequeño tomate," Antonio asked.

"Che~ Dare, of course!" Lovino answered, his eyes defiant.

Several nations snickered and chuckled.

"Lovi ~ , I dare you not to say bad words for the rest of the night," Antonio said. "In fact, you have to end or begin your sentences with a 'Ve~' like your brother, or better yet, a 'Nya' like a cute kitty." This dare incited laughter from everyone.

Lovino glared at him. "Damn it!" he protested. "You know I can't do that! What the hell are you smoking, you stupid bastard? !"

"If you can't do it, you either have to switch to a 'Truth' or select a different name out of the hat," Elizabeta said, grabbing it from France and thrusting it at Romano. "I hope you get my name; I already have some lovely ideas no matter which you choose." A wicked smile crossed her face.

Romano's face went pale. "C-c-can I start the dare over? I-I-I will try to watch my language," he stated, "even if it means that I don't say anything the rest of the night."

Elizabeta pouted but retracted the hat. "I suppose," she said.

"Didja forget something at the end of thata sentence?" Antonio goaded, smiling and folding his arms. Several nations snickered and many of them leaned forward in anticipation.

Lovino blushed all the way to his ears. ". . .Nya," he finished quietly.

All the nations started chuckling.

Antonio produced a pair of cat ears and placed them on top of Lovino's head. "Here, this might help you get in the mood," Antonio said. "Buhyoo~! You look so cuuuuutte!" He hugged his former-charge. This only caused the other nations to laugh harder.

Lovino opened his mouth to say something but decided not to so that he didn't have to say "Nya" again. Instead, he just pushed Spain away from him and then flung the ears to the other side of the room.

"Oh Gott! I can't stand it!" Gilbert cried, falling off his chair from fits of laughter. "That vas even better than if you had made him kiss you or something."

"I wish he had done that instead," Elizabeta said, looking disappointed as she glanced at her list.

"Next up is Seychelles and Sealand," Elizabeta called, looking at her list and walking away from the karaoke machine and looking for the nations she called.

The two younger nations stepped onto the stage. Arthur switched the machine over to duets and "Islands in the Stream" started playing. Both nations furrowed their brows as the other nations laughed. "I think it's still broken, you jerk of jerks," Sealand said to Arthur.

"I hope you draw my name when you mess up, you cheeky brat," Arthur stated, folding his arms.

Sealand immediately started singing along with Seychelles.

"Wow, he knows exactly which buttons to push," Elizabeta said as she sat next to Alfred/Amelia, "and I'm not talking about the karaoke machine."

Alfred/Amelia sighed and propped herself up on her hand. "It's one of his many talents," she replied. "Take it from someone who knows."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. But you can't hate him for it either," Alfred/Amelia continued, "because you know all his buttons too and you never hesitate to push them."

Elizabeta smirked. "Reeeally?" she said, slyly pulling out her notebook and jotting down something.

"My sister was one of the names not pulled earlier. Is either of the two nations who were last to draw names going to sing with her?" Switzerland asked, walking up to Elizabeta and glancing at the clipboard. He looked at Alfred/Amelia. "Listen up America: I'm only letting you sing with Lili because you're a girl now. If you make her cry, embarrass her, or do anything weird, you'll regret it."

_One thing is for sure: he's definitely living up to his costume_, Alfred/Amelia thought. Switzerland had chosen to dress as a knight-in-shining-armor. The only thing missing was his sword. "Don't worry, even as a girl, I'm still a hero," she said, flashing a thumbs-up. "I'll make sure we sound awesome."

"For your sake, I hope so," Switzerland said.

"Well before you do that," Elizabeta said. "You have a duet with England."

"You'd better not dawdle or mess up," Switzerland threatened Alfred/Amelia. "My sister is getting sleepy, and I'd like to finish this 'game' before midnight." He checked his watch. "It's already eleven o'clock; get started on your duet and don't mess up. If anyone else has to do a penalty, we're going to be here until tomorrow morning."

"I can't vouch for Artie," Alfred/Amelia said, "but don't worry. Like I said, I'll be as awesome as I can." She gave him her best million-dollar smile, and he returned as much of a smile as Switzerland can, then walked over to tell his sister.

Sealand and Seychelles finished with a score of 78. The two nations breathed sighs of relief and stepped off the stage.

"America and England, get up there!" Switzerland hollered. Chuckles rippled through the audience.

"Thank you for your help, but I think I can handle directing everyone, Switzerland," Elizabeta said, which only sparked more chuckles.

Arthur moved away from the controls of the karaoke machine and picked up one of the microphones as he walked up on the stage. Alfred/Amelia quickly joined him, grabbing the other mike. "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" flashed up on the wall.

"Oh my, is ze karaoke machine trying to tell you two somezing?" France asked, grinning and gulping down some coffee.

"Quiet Frog!" Arthur shouted as the music started to play.

"Artie, it's starting! You're supposed to sing first," Alfred/Amelia said.

Arthur crimsoned and brought his mike up to his mouth. "Don't go breaking my heart," he belted out.

"I couldn't if I tried," Alfred/Amelia trilled in a lovely and sweet soprano. She grinned. _Cool! I sound awesome! _she thought happily.

"Oh, Honey if I get restless," Arthur continued.

"Baby you're not that kind," Alfred/Amelia sang back at him.

As they progressed through the song, Alfred/Amelia started to feel more and more relaxed. They both started to sway to the music as they sang. _I'm glad this is one we both already know, _she thought as she realized neither Arthur nor she had needed to use the teleprompter yet.

"Honey when you knocked on my door," Arthur sang as he knocked on a "door" in the air and held out his hand to her.

"Ooo, I gave you my key," Alfred/Amelia practically purred as she sang her part, placing the "key" in his open palm. She felt light-headed when her fingers made contact with his gloved palm. A tingle flowed up her arm, and she found herself unable to move. Fortunately, she managed to keep singing.

"Ooo hoo, Nobody knows it," they chorused together.

"But when I was down," Arthur sang as he raised an eyebrow when he noticed she hadn't pulled her hand away.

"I was your clown," Alfred/Amelia intoned back to Arthur. She heard some nations laugh at this particular exchange, and she blushed with embarrassment as they repeated part of the chorus. She didn't have time to feel embarrassed, though, because Arthur grabbed her still-outstretched hand, whirled her around, released her hand, and caught her into the curve of his microphone-free arm.

"But right from the start," he sang. "I gave you my heart."

Alfred/Amelia's whole face grew hot as she felt Arthur's arm around her and his hand on the curve of her waist. "I gave you my heart," she sang to him, recovering from her previous embarrassment.

Arthur winked and smiled at her as they continued the song. He grabbed her hand again and whirled her back out but continued to hold her hand as he started to dance with her.

"Don't go breaking my heart," they harmonized together and continued to dance around the stage. Several nations started dancing with each other, following the two nations' lead.

"This song is so sweet it's making my teeth hurt," Alfred/Amelia heard Australia saying to the nations next to him.

"A policeman and a flapper? You call zat sweet?" she heard France reply. "I call zat _**provocative**_."

Alfred/Amelia felt her face flush a little as she tried to ignore that comment.

"So don't misunderstand me," Arthur crooned and twirled her around once to try to distract her from France's comment as he danced her around the stage in their one-handed dance.

"You put the light in my life," Alfred/Amelia sang happily as she let him lead her.

"You put the sparks to the flame," Arthur serenaded, looking her right in the eyes and smiling a little wider than before.

"I've got your heart in my sights," Alfred/Amelia resounded back as she felt her heart palpitate at this exchange. She felt like she was floating as they went into the chorus. Singing and dancing with Arthur felt spontaneous and easy, so easy that it surprised her when she heard the song starting to end.

As if it was the most natural thing to do, Arthur scooped her up into his arms and spun them both around for the last intonations of the song. He set her down, and they both turned around to see what their score was as they caught their breaths. A 90 flashed up on the screen.

Alfred/Amelia felt herself break into a wide smile as she lowered her microphone.

"Sorry," Arthur said quietly, lowering his mike, "I guess I missed a few notes."

She shook her head. "It probably was me," Alfred/Amelia countered back quietly. "But let's not fight for blame over those 10 points; we did awesome!"

"You're really light, by the way," Arthur noted quietly. "That was like lifting a pillow."

Alfred/Amelia felt her face grow warm as she remembered how close their faces were when he had picked her up. Someone behind them cleared his throat. It was then that they both noticed they hadn't let go of each other's hands yet.

"Get a room!" a nation in the back of the room said, and the rest of the nations laughed.

Arthur blushed and released her hand. "Don't listen to them. They only said it to get a reaction," he said quietly as he stepped off the stage.

"Don't leave the stage yet, America!" Elizabeta called. "You still have your duet with Liechtenstein."

Liechtenstein walked up to the stage and smiled at Alfred/Amelia as she joined her. The karaoke machine loaded the song: "Barbie Girl" by Aqua flashed up on the wall.

Alfred/Amelia cringed. "Can we pause this for a minute?" Alfred/Amelia asked.

Arthur walked over to the machine and hit the pause button. "What's the matter?" he asked.

Alfred/Amelia looked at Liechtenstein. "This isn't a duet we can do. The other half of this duet, René Dif, is a bass or baritone or whatever," Alfred/Amelia said. "Um, who's going to be 'Ken'? I'm pretty sure neither of us can sing his low notes. Even as my original gender, I would have struggled with those notes."

All the other nations murmured in agreement. Elizabeta shrugged. "Because Liechtenstein is a sweetheart, how about we make an exception then? We'll draw a name out of the hat, and the nation whose name is drawn will sing those parts," she suggested, holding it out to Liechtenstein. "Chances are very good the nation will be male."

The younger nation reached in and pulled out a slip. "China," she read.

"Aiya! I don't know if I can hit those notes either, aru," Yao said.

"Sure you can Yao-gege! I've heard you sing before," Yong Soo said.

Yao glared at him for spoiling his excuse.

"Well, get up there," Elizabeta said.

Yao sighed and stepped up on stage, moving closer to Alfred/Amelia to share her mike because Switzerland was giving him a look that said, "Go near Liechtenstein, and I'll rip your head off."

Arthur pushed play and the nations started singing. Yao managed to hit every low note. He even got into the dancing that the two girls decided to do with the song.

Switzerland kept telling all the male nations to stop staring and whistling. When yelling proved fruitless, he started asking that the song be stopped. "It's an indecent song for my sister to sing," he protested.

"So you'd rather her take the penalty for not finishing?" Elizabeta asked. Several nations chuckled behind her.

"No! Just give her a different song to sing," he contended.

"You can brush my hair / Undress me everywhere / Imagin~ation / Life is your creation," Liechtenstein and Alfred/Amelia sang.

"Come on Barbie / Let's go party!" France shouted, jumping up on the stage and pushing China out of the way. The poor Asian nation when flying into Japan, Australia, and Hong Kong.

"Ahhhh! What are you doing?" Liechtenstein shrieked as France grabbed her and Alfred/Amelia around their waists.

"The can-can . . . I think," France slurred. It became obvious to everyone that the "coffee" he'd been guzzling earlier was actually wine.

Switzerland pulled out a handgun. "Move away from her right now unless you want a new hole in your head, you wine bastard," he threatened.

"Amérique save me!" France said, turning to grab onto her as Alfred/Amelia easily stepped aside to avoid him. Unfortunately, for all involved, she hadn't noticed that Liechtenstein had moved behind her for protection. France lost his balance and tumbled onto the tiny nation. He fell face-first into the flower petals on the top part of her fairy princess costume.

"That's it, France! You're dead!" Switzerland yelled.

France didn't waste any time running away as he exited the stage.

"Please no killing in my house!" Arthur protested.

Alfred/Amelia stepped off the stage and debated chasing after them and getting in between the irate nation and the drunken fool.

"Don't panic," she heard Austria say as he walked up to them. "That's just an air-soft gun. He wasn't allowed to bring any weapons through your airport's security, but it was driving him crazy not to have something. He bought it this morning. It can't kill—" They watched Switzerland fire off the pistol, and France run for his life.

"Yeaaaghh!" France yelled as one of the air-soft pistol's pellets made contact.

Austria flinched. "But getting hit by those pellets hurts a lot and will most likely leave a bruise," he continued.

"Well in that case, I'll just let him run out of ammunition," Arthur said, smiling and folding his arms.

"Angleterre, stop him!" Francis yelled as he ran past the three nations.

Arthur tapped his chin as if he was considering it. "No, I don't think I will," he shouted back. "But, Switzerland, please don't break anything."

Switzerland nodded and continued to chase the French nation.

"Angleterre, you jerk!" Francis hollered. "I shall get my revenge! Yeaaaagghh! Oh that smarts!"

Alfred/Amelia and Liechtenstein's song ended, and the karaoke machine flashed a 70 on the wall.

"Does this mean we have to do a penalty?" Liechtenstein asked, looking worried.

Elizabeta shook her head. "You got that score because France interrupted you," she said. "It's not your fault."

"Interrupted or not, they could have kept singing instead of watching Switzerland chase France around the room . . . ~nya, " Lovino said, blushing as Antonio giggled. "It's not fair . . . ~nya."

"How about, in the name of justice, I take the penalty for both of us?" Alfred/Amelia suggested.

"Now Amelia, I don't think you need—" Arthur started to protest.

France ran by the group again.

Switzerland stopped in front of them and tossed away another empty clip. He turned to Liechtenstein. "I'm almost done here, Lili," he said. "Say good-night to everyone." Then he scanned the room for France.

"Stop clinging to me!" Gilbert shouted. "I may be your freund, but I don't vant to get shot at either."

Switzerland headed over to where the Bad Friends Trio had gathered.

"It's okay Artie; I can handle it!" Alfred/Amelia flashed him a thumbs-up. "I'm a hero, after all."

Arthur looked at Elizabeta who only shrugged and held out the hat to both Liechtenstein and Alfred/Amelia.

Liechtenstein unfolded her paper. "I got Lithuania," she said.

_Phew. I'm saved,_ Alfred/Amelia thought as she unfolded her paper. Even though she said she could handle it, she wasn't 100% sure her new body could handle everything that came her way.

Switzerland walked over to Liechtenstein. "Ready to go? Those other two got in the way, and I ended up using all my ammunition trying to get them to move," he said. Liechtenstein nodded, and the siblings left the ballroom.

"No! I don't want to go to bed!" Sealand protested as Sweden carried him out of the room.

"Liechtenstein is going to bed, and she's older than you," Finland said. "Stop being so childish."

"It's not fair!" Sealand wailed. "Can't I stay up just a little longer?"

"L'st'n t' y'r m'ther," Sweden said as they exited the room.

"Berwald! I keep telling you that I'm not Mama Bear! This is _**just a costume**_," Finland protested as they walked out the door.

Alfred/Amelia glanced down at her slip of paper. She felt as if the paper was smirking at her.

"Who did you get?" Elizabeta asked.

Try as hard as she could, Alfred/Amelia couldn't bring herself to vocalize her doom. She handed the paper to the other nation who silently read it.

"Oh dear," Elizabeta said.

"~Nya! Who is it already? !" Romano asked as he snatched the paper away from her. He opened it up. "Prussia!" he read. ". . . ~Nya."

"Yeesssss!" Gilbert said, walking over to the group. "I vas hoping it vas me."

"We're buddies, right?" Alfred/Amelia said.

"Of course ve are," he said. "Kesesese." Gilbert wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I von't get you back too hard for threatening me earlier," he whispered to her.

Alfred/Amelia felt a little faint, but shrugged off her "buddy's" arm instead. "Well, that doesn't matter, bring it on!" she stated, laughing as loudly as her new body would allow.

Arthur face-palmed.

"Okay," Lithuania said. "T-t-truth or D-d-dare?"

"Dare!"

"All right. I dare you to . . . d-d-dance in front of everyone . . . um . . . b-b-by yourself this time," he challenged.

"Hey, I vanted to go first!" Gilbert shouted.

"Fine . . . go then," Alfred/Amelia said.

"Truth or—"

"Dare!" she interrupted before Gilbert could finish.

He smirked. "I dare you to drink all the alcohol left-over in everyone's glasses from the last game," he said. France and Spain laughed and started pouring all the drinks into Germany's used beer mug‡.

"That's disgusting and completely unsanitary," Austria protested.

"I also have a problem with this," Arthur said. "She can't handle that much alcohol, especially since she's already had some tonight."

"I'm not Sealand, Artie! It's all right; I'll do it," Alfred/Amelia said as she watched the Bad Friends Trio finished emptying everyone's glasses of the wine, beer, whiskey, vodka, brandy, absinthe, champagne and other alcohol they had left in them into the mug. _Good thing I can really hold my liquor,_ she thought.

France handed the mug to Gilbert who then handed it to her. "Here you go, America," he said.

Alfred/Amelia brought the mug to her lips, then quickly jerked it away. "Gah! It smells funky!" she said.

"You have to drink it," Gilbert insisted.

"This isn't a fair dare!" Arthur protested. "It's too harsh for something that wasn't her fault to begin with."

_I can't believe it, even after all these years, he still thinks of me as a little kid who needs him to fight for me,_ Alfred/Amelia thought as she brought the beer mug to her lips and tried not to think that, in a way, she was indirectly kissing almost everyone in the room. It tasted almost as foul as it smelled. _Only one way to get this over with quickly, _she thought. She held her breath and started gulping down the mixture as fast as she could.

Arthur reached over and took the mug out of her hand. "You git! Don't you know that this much alcohol is bad for you? !" he said. "Change to a 'Truth' already."

"S'not that bad, Artie . . . now gives it back. I need to do thish Dare," she slurred. _My head feels funny_, she mused.

"No, I'm not giving it back!" Arthur stated.

"Artie~, give it!" Alfred/Amelia said. She leaned forward and grabbed at the mug, trying to take it back from him.

Arthur put the mug to his lips and chugged down the rest of its contents. "I _**shaid**_ no!" Arthur repeated as he wiped his mouth.

"Y'ruined my Dare!" Alfred/Amelia said. "Now I hafta shtart all overs!"

Gilbert laughed loudly. "I'm actually fine vith how this turned out," he said, smirking.

"Yeaahhh. Sho there America! Now lemme drink the rest o' thish," Arthur said, sipping an already-empty mug, then cradling it in his hands as he sat down in a chair.

"Fine then, fer the dancin', I'll add a little exshtra to make up the diff," she said, walking over to the karaoke machine, typing in a song, and grabbing a mike. Before anyone could stop her, Alfred/Amelia staggered over to the nearest empty table and climbed up on it as the music started.

"I am confident, but I shtill have my momentsh / Baby, that's jusht meeee," she sang. "I'm not a shupermodel, I shtill eat McDonald's / Baaaaby, that's jusht meeee."

"What is this? America's theme song?" Hong Kong commented as Alfred/Amelia started shaking her hips to "La La Land". The rose-petal fringe started shimmying and exaggerating every move she made. Arthur's eyes grew wide, and several of the male nations in the room mirrored his expression.

_Man, I feel great! _Alfred/Amelia thought as she whirled around on the table.

"I don't get it," Gilbert said, smirking. "Ve've been drinking before but I've never seen America get like this. He usually can drink me under the table before he even starts acting the tiniest bit drunk. Not that I mind . . . I like vhat I see."

"It's because her body is smaller," Germany stated, rubbing his chin. "That's the only vay to explain it."

"Who sed I can't wore my Canverse with my dressh? / Well Baaaaby, that's jusht meeee!" With this line, Alfred/Amelia closed her eyes and violently kicked off her heels, and they went flying.

"Maple~!" Matthew cried out as one heel hit him squarely in the face, and the force of the impact knocked him over. He lay flat on the floor, completely unconscious. Unfortunately, Alfred/Amelia didn't notice what happened.

"Noooo! Mon chéri Canada!" France cried, rushing over to the fallen nation. "I shall avenge you as well!"

Seychelles barely ducked in time to avoid the other shoe, which then hit Russia in the chest as he was coming out of the men's restroom.

He laughed at the impact. "That tickled. This is a gift, da?" he asked Alfred/Amelia as he picked up the shoe and walked over to where she was singing.

_In your dreams,_ she thought as she smiled, winked, and stepped off the table. "Well, shome may shay I nee' to be afraid / Of losin' everythin'," Alfred/Amelia sang, not missing a beat in the song as she grabbed shoe away from Russia.

"'Cause of where I had my shtart / and where I made my naaaaame~!" she continued as she walked past each of the male nations. She leaned up against Australia, then whirled around before he could react. She continued her song as she staggered over to where China and some of the others, including Arthur, were sitting.

"Tell me, do y'feel the way I feel?" Alfred/Amelia sang directly to Yao as she walked her fingers up his chest.

"Aiyaa! What are you doing?" Yao said as he crimsoned.

Alfred/Amelia continued onto Hong Kong, running her hands through his hair before moving on. She threw her arm around Kiku's neck and smooched him on the cheek.

"Alfred-kun, stop! Everyone is watching!" he protested.

Alfred/Amelia laughed and moved away from him while continuing the song. She whirled around and sat on the lap of the nation sitting next to Kiku as she belted out the last part of the song. "I won't change anything in my liiiife / I'm shtaying myself toniiiight!" she sang. She looked to see whose lap she'd sat on and found herself face-to-face with Arthur. "Artie!" she said as the song finished up its last few notes.

"Havin' fun?" he asked.

Alfred/Amelia quickly stood up. She already was feeling warm from dancing but now her face felt like a it was 1,000 degrees hotter. "Oh man, my head—" she managed to say before everything went black just as the last note from the song chimed out.

* * *

Arthur debated whether or not to stop Alfred/Amelia from making a fool of herself in front of everyone the moment that she hopped up on the table, but as soon as she started dancing, many of the male nations crowded around the table she was on, so they could get a better view of the "show". Arthur decided he was feeling too drunk to have the energy to push past them, so he stayed seated at the table he had sat down at.

The Asian nations joined him at his table. He glared at them. _You don't fool me,_ he scolded them silently. _Trying to make it look like you aren't interested in watching her dance when you bloody can't take your eyes off her. _Arthur wasn't sure what made him feel more irritated: that they were staring or that he was feeling jealous.

"Let 'er make an arsh of hershelf. I dun care," he said quietly to himself, refusing to admit he secretly was enjoying her "little display", that is, except for the part when she knocked her brother out with her shoe. _That damn strength of hers truly is terrifying_, he thought.

_What is she thinking doing that?_ he wondered when she came down from the table while serenading all the men in the room. _Can't she see the glares of the female nations present?_ Arthur noticed that Hungary had already dragged Austria away from the others.

Alfred/Amelia wrapped her arms around Kiku and kissed him on the cheek as he protested the affection. Taiwan looked like she was ready to kill Alfred/Amelia right then and there.

Suddenly Alfred/Amelia sat in Arthur's lap as she finished up the song. _Does she even realize what she's doing or where she's sitting? _he wondered as he felt his entire body grow warm and his heart thunder in his ears. _Why couldn't I get America this drunk all those years ago? _

"I won't change anything in my liiiife / I'm shtaying myself toniiiight!" Alfred/Amelia belted out. When she turned to face him, her expression told him she'd had no idea whose lap she'd sat on. "Artie!" she chirped as the song finished up its last few notes.

"Havin' fun?" Arthur asked, trying to keep his cool. His head still felt too fogged up to really scold her.

She quickly stood up, her face turning as red as her dress. "Oh man, my head—" she managed to say before she passed out and headed for the floor as the last note of the song rang out.

_Bugger! _Arthur thought as he jumped up and caught her. All of the nations started laughing.

"That vas a close one," Prussia said. "Vant me to take over for you?" He smirked and, to Arthur, he looked like a fox asking if he could watch the hen-house.

"Shod off, Prussia! She's mine!" he heard himself say.

Several nations laughed and hooted at this statement.

"Wow, what a confession!" Elizabeta said.

"No I didn't mean . . ." Arthur said, feeling his face grow hotter as he shifted Alfred/Amelia in his arms so he wouldn't drop her. He'd caught her at an awkward angle, and while she was lighter than she'd been as a guy, she was significantly heavier unconscious than conscious. "Don't just shtand there! Help me!" he asked, feeling flustered as he struggled to keep them both upright.

All he got in response was some more chuckling and cat-calls.

"Heh heh heh, for myself and for Canada: la vengeance!" Arthur heard France say from behind him as France started to do something that felt to Arthur like fondling in the area near his waist.

"Hey wanker, whet tha bloody hell are you doing? !" Arthur demanded, glancing over his shoulder and shifting to keep from dropping Alfred/Amelia. "What are you doing with those? !"

France got a look on his face that Arthur knew meant trouble for anyone on the receiving end of whatever France was trying to do.

"Cccllliiiccckkk! Cccllliiiccckkk!"

Arthur looked down to see what the French idiot had done. "Bollocks."

* * *

**A/N **

**Meh heh heh. I hope that was fun to read. It certainly was fun to write as I listened to each song and blocked out the action around them as best as I could.**

**Viola! is a magic word used to reveal or produce something and translates as "Behold" or "There it is!". As for the "magic words" following Viola, "Owa Tagu Siam", read it slowly (and aloud if you didn't get it reading silently). Magicians use these words to add humor and lighten the mood of the room.**

***According the Hetalia archives, St. George's Day, or April 23, has been proposed as England's birthday.**

‡**Just to give you an idea how much America had to drink, a beer mug usually is about 16 ounces (although some have been known to be more, anywhere between 18-22 ounces).**

* * *

**Translations:**

**Uri nara mansae** **= Hooray for our land/nation! (yup it's another canon catchphrase ^_^)**

**hyung (****형 ****in Korean script) = literally translated it means "older/elder brother", but it's usually used to refer to older male relatives (eg: cousins; China and Korea are about the same age) or close friends (which is what Korea wants to be with China; sadly, it seems it's all one-sided, poor guy).**

**gege = Big/older brother (in Chinese)**

**mi amigo = my friend**

**barriguita = tummy. (This is the way a child would say it.)**

**Mon ami = my friend**

**¿Repita por favor? = Please repeat (that)?**

**mi pequeño tomate = my little tomato (new pet name for a blushing Lovino ^_^)**

**Amérique = America**

**Angleterre = England**

**freund = friend**

**Mon chéri = my darling (or dear)**

**Che Diavolo = What the hell!**

**Bugger = similar way to say "Bollocks". It's like saying "Oh Crap!"**

**La vengeance! =Vengeance!**

* * *

**The duets/solos and songs were actually chosen randomly using actual slips of paper (I had all the nations written on one slip, which I drew out twice, then I found the top 10 karaoke songs for solos and duets and drew those out at random for the nations who got "selected"). I thought the results were quite amusing. I only included the ones I thought were the funniest in the chapter . . . and, of course, the UK X US one, but the whole list is here in the order I mentioned them:**

**Hong Kong - "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor**

**Canada - "Invisible" by Clay Aiken**

**Germany - "You Drive me Crazy" by Britney Spears**

**Elizabeta's suggested song for Germany: "Satellite" by Lena Meyer-Landrut (who was the 2010 winner of Eurovision) **

**Belarus – "Obsessed" by BoA (not a top 10 karaoke song, but after I drew "Every Breath You Take" by Sting & The Police, my wonderful Beta Reader suggested I use "Obsessed" b/c it's practically Belarus's theme song; this song is sung BoA, a wonderful and amazing Korean pop singer. I love her music! . . .and so does Korea. He was just telling me how he had been the one who encouraged BoA to take up a singing career.) **

**Romano - "Baby Got Back" by Sir MixAlot**

**Sealand & Seychelles - "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton**

**UK & US - "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and Kiki Dee or by Glee cast members, Lea Michele & Cory Monteith—Both versions have amazing performers (although I personally like the Glee version better, mostly b/c I love Lea Michele's voice). The timing in the fic works for both pairs of performers.**

**US & Liechtenstein - "Barbie Girl" by Aqua**

**US - "La La Land" by Demi Lovato (okay, this isn't a karaoke but it really feels like fem!America's theme song to me ^_^)**

I've included pics that the costumes in this fic are based on and the song-list from the karaoke are all available (via hyperlinks) on my profile. Check it out_!_BTW I've included a link in my profile page to a play-list on youtube of all the ones used in the chapter (except Hong Kong's since it was off-stage). I selected the Vevo or studio-released versions b/c youtube won't disable those videos. I'm sorry about the video ads that come with those, but I picked quality over no ads. Also, I put the Glee version of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" first and the Elton John/Kiki Dee version second. You can pick which version you want to listen to and skip over the other one. I also included, at the end of the list, "Satellite" and a Gilbert & Sullivan version of "Baby Got Back" (trust me, it's hilarious) just for fun.

**FYI I've listed "Satellite" in the order I mentioned it, but I put it 2nd to last in the youtube playlist b/c if you decide to listen to these songs while reading, I don't want you to have an interruption of the songs actually sang by the characters. Please take the time to listen to it, though, while thinking of Germany X Italy, and you'll see why Elizabeta thought this song was perfect for Ludwig to sing to Feliciano.**

**Ludwig: "Ahem . . ."**

**Me: *jumps* "Oh hey Ludwig. What's up?"**

**Ludwig: "I really had nothing to do vith that song . . ."**

**Me: *raises eyebrow* " . . ."**

**Ludwig: "It's true. I don't even know John or Julie."**

**Me: "Uh-huh. So how come you referred to them by their _first names_ just now?"**

**Ludwig: "Oops. . . I meant, Herr Gordon and Fraulein Frost."**

**Me: "Ludwig."**

**Ludwig: *swallows hard* "Ja? (squeaking slightly)" **

**Me: "Elbert Hubbard said, 'Never explain. Your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe it anyway.'"**

**Ludwig: "Well then—"**

**Me: *interrupts* ". . . and your fans will tease you regardless."**

**Ludwig: *face-palms* ". . ."**

**Me: "That last part is by me. I'm not quoting anyone."**

**Ludwig: " . . . J-j-ja, I gathered as much . . ."**

**Me: *evil fangirl chuckle***

* * *

**The rest of the karaoke list not used:**

**Finland - "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper**

**Poland - "Like A Virgin" by Madonna**

**N. Italy & France - "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred (this song is normally sang as a solo, but it accidentally got mixed up with the songs I was drawing out for duets, and I decided to just go for it).**

**Japan & Taiwan - "Endless Love" by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross**

**Austria & Hungary - "I Had the Time of My Life" by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes.**

**Finally, I'll be writing a GerXfem!Italy Gakuen Hetalia AU Gender-bend (wow what a mixed up format huh?) fic in the near future. I've created a sorta-Role Play style forum to help out with things like voting for Student Council, helping out with names of nations who haven't received human names from Himaruya yet. This forum (via hyperlinks or a forum button) is available on my profile. Come play with me? **


	10. Pick a Card, Any Card: A 2 of Hearts?

**Step 10: Pick a Card, Any Card . . . Is It the 2 of Hearts?**

The morning light screamed into Arthur's room, making his head ache, his stomach feel queasy, and his eyes hurt. _Why the bloody hell does this happen every time I get ratted at parties? _he thought as his stomach fought with his head for attention. He covered his eyes with his right arm. _Shut up, stupid sunlight! I heard you already._

Arthur rolled over in bed, onto his left side, away from the window and noticed that he made a metallic "Clink" noise when he did. He also became aware that his left wrist didn't feel very comfortable. It felt like it was being squeezed by something. He held up his left arm and stared at the source of the earlier sound.

The handcuff encircling his wrist slowly slid down his arm. _When the blinking hell did this . . .? _he wondered through the haze of hangover and sleepiness. _Why can't I remember? Did I really drink __**that**__ much?_

Arthur felt some warmth against his arm and saw someone else was attached to the other half of the handcuffs and that person's right hand was lying against his arm. He glanced at the owner of the hand. A snatch of what looked like longish blond hair was all he could see from under the covers.

Panic filled Arthur's mind as he quickly looked down at the rest of his body: Still fully clothed in his police uniform . . . and someone had pulled a blanket up over him. _Okay, it's not France,_ he thought, letting out a sigh of relief. _Then who?_ He set down his left arm and pulled back the blanket with his right hand.

"It's cold Artie." America stirred slightly and then snuggled closer to Arthur. "Jeez, you wake up too early . . ." The nation next to Arthur drifted back to sleep and started to snore softly.

_That's right, I remember now_, Arthur mused as the memory of what had happened last night rushed back.

"Nice vork, Francis!" Prussia had said after France had handcuffed Arthur and Alfred/Amelia together. "Although I vould hafe 'pantsed' England and taken a pic vith my cell for blackmail."

France had nodded. "I sot about zat, but none of us had brought our phones to ze party with us."

"You bloody wanker! Y'know these're real, right?" Arthur had said, still feeling drunk from earlier.

France had smiled drunkenly and nodded. "Oui. I know. I have a police outfit for my job as well."

Arthur knew the question was redundant, but he asked it all the same to emphasize how stupid France had just been. All of the nations had some form of law enforcement or emergency services disguise that they could wear when they needed to be near their "boss" but couldn't wear plain-clothes or a suit or their military uniform. To make sure they didn't stand out from the regular troops, police officers, fire fighters or whatever else they were posing as, everything on the outfit was 100% authentic. Police uniforms, for example, were equipped with handcuffs, weapons, badges with official "names" and numbers, and all the other necessary items.

Arthur realized too late, as he looked at the handcuffs now attaching him to the still-unconscious Alfred/Amelia, that he'd outfitted his "costume" with almost everything before leaving his room. He crimsoned when he remembered the reason he'd been so distracted that he'd forgotten to leave the equipment behind: She had walked in on him while changing, and he'd hurried to finish just in case she decided to barge in on him again.

"Angleterre, what's with zat expression?" France moved into his line of vision. "Are you sinking of somezing I would like to join in on?" The perverted nation grinned.

"Listen, you manky plonker," Arthur said as he maneuvered Alfred/Amelia so that she was leaning against him and so that he could wrap his non-handcuffed arm around her. "I don't have any fantashies involving _**you**_, sho . . . this party's done. Clear out everybody!"

The other nations started to file out of the ballroom, some of them murmuring complaints. "Sheesh, it's not even midnight yet," Australia whined. "I was hoping this party would have lasted a bit longer."

Spain walked over to the group and took in the scene. "You know, mi amigo," he said to France. "If you really wanted revenge, how come you didn't handcuff yourself to Inglaterra? That's what I woulda done."

"Merde! Release zose from each ozer at once." France grabbed Alfred/Amelia's handcuffed wrist and tried to undo it.

"Dammit you wine bashtard. Leggo!" Arthur said, jerking his arm (and her arm) away.

France held out his hand. "Give me ze keys zen."

"Even _**if**_ I had them on me, which I don't, why would I bloody give 'em to you?" Arthur stated.

France grabbed Arthur's arm and started shaking it, causing him to almost lose his grip on the comatose nation in his arms and wince as the handcuff rubbed his skin.

"Shtop it, damn Frog! That hurts!"

"Maybe I can shake you loose," France stated, ignoring him and shaking Arthur's arm harder, which caused both him and Alfred/Amelia to shake as well.

"Shtop it! I'm gonna throw up!" Alfred/Amelia woke from her stupor long enough to punch France in the nose with her free hand before passing out again.

France fell backwards onto the floor, and then he clutched his face. "Damb Ambérique! I sink she broke mby nose!"

"You deserved it," Arthur said as he tightened his grip around Alfred/Amelia and smiled.

Spain helped France up as he shouted curses at both Arthur and Alfred/Amelia, and they both left the room while Prussia helped a semi-conscious Canada out of the room. The room got eerily quiet, and Arthur realized he was all alone in the ballroom. He was forced to struggle with Alfred/Amelia as he carried the unconscious nation carefully up the stairs and down the hall to his room.

By the time he reached his room, Arthur was nearly exhausted. He half-carried, half-dragged Alfred/Amelia across the room towards the writing desk where he kept the handcuff key. He'd almost reached the desk when she came to.

"Cut it out, Artie, you're hurting my feet!" she said as she stood upright. She glanced around the room. "Where're my shoes?"

"You left 'em downshtairs."

"'Kay . . . Bedtime then." She started walking towards Arthur's bed.

He winced as she pulled against the handcuffs and they pinched his skin. "America! We're still attached!"

Alfred/Amelia stopped and turned to stare at the restraints. Then she looked up at Arthur and grinned. "Artie, you pervert. Didn't know you were into that kinda stuff. But if that's what y'want . . . Okay, I'm game." Before he could protest, she bent over and scooped Arthur up over her shoulder.

"Put me down!" Arthur demanded, suddenly feeling very sober. He felt his face grow hot as if it had ignited into a sudden burst of flames.

Alfred/Amelia ignored him and continued to walk over to the bed. "Wow. This is hard when you're handcuffed." She tossed him on the bed and the action pulled her with him as he landed solidly in the middle of the bed. "Ows. That hurted," she said, rubbing her nose with her left hand after she'd landed on top of him.

She looked up at him, and her smile returned to her face. Arthur scrambled backwards away from her, a futile action since they were still handcuffed together. She was pulled right along with his retreat. Alfred/Amelia grabbed his free arm, stopping his backward motion. She pushed him down and straddled him, pinning him to the bed.

"S-s-s-stop this right now!" Arthur said as the heat from his face traveled downward, enveloping his entire body. The tingling this stimulated, for some reason, kept him from being able to move all of a sudden.

Alfred/Amelia smiled slyly as she removed the equipment belt that was over the tunic/jacket and flung it on the floor next to the bed. The rest of the police equipment clattered as it hit the floor, and Arthur felt grateful he hadn't accidentally attached his firearm with the rest of it.

"W-w-what are you doing?" he asked weakly, trying to pull himself out of his stupor. "Stop it America . . . You're drunk."

Alfred/Amelia grinned down at him. With her handcuff-free left hand, she grabbed his police cap and placed it on her head, then grabbed the hem of his tunic/jacket. "No. _**You're**_ drunk. You know what I'm doin', silly England," she said drunkenly as she forcefully lifted the tunic/jacket over Arthur's head. When she realized she couldn't get it past the handcuffs, she tugged it back down. "Dang it." She looked down at his trousers and smiled.

"No you don't!" Arthur said, regaining control of his body and smacking her hand away so she couldn't undo his trousers' belt. He used the handcuffs to his advantage and jerked both their hands away from them.

"C'mon Artie! I'm jusht making us more comfy before we go to shleep." She looked as if she suddenly understood something and smiled wider. "Unless you had shomething else in mind, you naughty boy . . ." She tossed away his police cap and leaned in closer to Arthur while reaching up to loosen his tie with her left hand.

"S-s-stop it!" Arthur protested, halting her forward motion by grabbing her shoulders. Arthur felt his heart skip a beat when he saw that he'd stopped her face just 15 centimeters* away from his own.

Alfred/Amelia looked into Arthur's eyes with a serious expression on her face. She moved her hand away from his tie and gently stroked her fingers down his cheek and across his lips. "You mean you've never thought about doing something like this if you had the chance?" She let her fingertips linger on his lips as she smiled slightly and continued to look into his eyes.

Arthur forgot how to breathe for a moment; his lips tingled against her fingertips, and then he felt his heart rate and breathing quicken and his head feel light like he was floating. He was unable to resist as Alfred/Amelia moved his hands away from her shoulders and leaned in closer until their faces were mere 8 centimeters* away. "I . . . what are you saying?" he replied finally, looking away before she could get any closer to his mouth. "Stupid git . . . you're . . . we're both drunk . . . besides, we're just friends."

"Are we now. . ." Alfred/Amelia whispered in his ear.

Arthur felt his ear grow hot as he felt her breath against it. His heart pounded in his ears when he felt the weight of her entire body press against his own body.

When nothing happened after that, Arthur turned back to look at her. She had fallen asleep again, this time on top of his chest. He had stared for a moment at the unconscious nation who was snoring quietly, still straddling him.

He then had pushed her off onto the bed next to him and flopped back onto the bed as he had tried to catch his breath while staring up at the canopy on the poster-bed. Arthur had tried to imagine lying on the beach near the cool ocean to calm himself down, and the next thing he remembered was waking up that morning.

The morning light illuminated Alfred/Amelia's face as Arthur watched her sleep. He pulled the blanket up over her shoulder. _This is the one I keep at the foot of the bed_. _She must have woken up earlier and pulled it up over us. _Arthur let out a small laugh. _She never did like being cold._

Alfred/Amelia must have felt his gaze because she stirred and stretched. She opened her eyes and smiled at him.

Arthur felt his heart skip a beat at the eye-contact.

"Good Morning, Artie . . . Ugh, my head hurts . . ." She blocked the sunlight with her handcuff-free hand and frowned. "And my mouth tastes awful. I didn't hurl, did I?"

Arthur shook his head.

Alfred/Amelia noticed the handcuffs and stared at them for a minute. "Artie, when did this—?"

"France. Last night," Arthur interrupted. "You don't remember what happened?"

"Nah . . . maybe . . . I had a weird dream." She scratched her head. "I was singing and dancing on a table or something, and then I climbed off the table and took my high-heel shoe from a mouse. After that, I rubbed myself up against Han Solo, flirted with a Chinese vampire, then ruffled a butler's hair, kissed a fox, and sat on a policeman's lap, which got me arrested."

"That would be Russia, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and me, in that order, and that wasn't a dream."

Her eyes grew wide, and she sat up. The handcuffs made a "Clink" with the motion. "I made a fool of myself, didn't I?" she moaned.

Arthur laughed and nodded.

"Shoot. This is why I don't let myself get hosed like that," she groaned. "Happened once with Mattie and Katyusha once, and I had to apologize for a month after that."

Arthur tried not to think of what America would need to apologize to Canada and Ukraine for that would require that much apologizing.

"I wanna brush my teeth," she said, climbing off the bed and dragging Arthur, involuntarily, with her. "My mouth feels like crap." She walked over to Arthur's adjoined bathroom, opened his bathroom cabinet, and started digging around in it.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked, feeling irritated at this invasion of privacy.

"Aha. Here it is." She held up a new toothbrush, still in its packaging. She quickly unwrapped it and stuck it in her mouth before Arthur could protest. She pulled it out and squeezed toothpaste on it, then started brushing her teeth with her left hand. Arthur sighed and grabbed his own toothbrush, following her example.

She stopped brushing for a moment to close the bathroom cabinet's door. When she saw herself in the mirror, Alfred/Amelia's mouth dropped open. "Ardie, wha'de fhell . . ."

The toothbrush fell into the basin.

Arthur grabbed it and set it on the basin's counter-top. He rinsed his mouth and then his toothbrush before putting it away. "Don't talk when you have something in your mouth. I can't understand a bloody thing you say when you do that."

A bit of toothpaste foam dribbled down her chin as Alfred/Amelia continued to stare open-mouthed at herself in the mirror.

"That's disgusting!" Arthur grabbed a hand towel quickly off a towel rail and wiped her mouth. "Rinse already!"

Alfred/Amelia numbly did as she was told and grabbed the towel away from Arthur to dry her mouth.

He took the towel back and threw it in a nearby laundry basket. "Now. What's the matter?"

When she made eye contact with him, her eyes were slightly wet from tears that were starting to leak out. Arthur felt his heart leap to his throat, and he instinctively reached out to embrace her.

"Artie, I . . . I'm still a woman. Wasn't I supposed to have changed back at midnight?"

Arthur stopped reaching for her and blinked. _That's right. She should have turned back by now. _He let out a sigh. "Bollocks. Looks like I'll need to try calling Ceridwen again."

"Who's Ceridwen?" Alfred/Amelia asked, narrowing her eyes.

Arthur noticed that her tone sounded a little scary for some reason. "She's the white witch I got the spell from."

"Oh . . . I knew it! I knew this magic was too good to be yours," she said.

"Just one bloody minute!" Arthur protested, feeling irritated. "My magic made the spell work; I just used her incantation. Besides, if you hadn't interrupted me in the middle of the spell, this never would have happened."

"So it's my fault I'm still a chick? !" Alfred/Amelia said. "I can't go home like this, y'know, it'll freak out my boss . . . actually, I might be able to get away with more, now that I think about it. He's got a soft spot for women." She stopped to think about the possibilities for a moment. "Wait. No! That's not the point. I can't be a chick! None of the other nations will take me seriously like this!" She started biting her nails on her handcuff-free left hand.

"That really won't be a problem," Arthur said quietly. "Most of them already didn't take you seriously when you were a guy."

"Huh? What did you just say?" she asked, looking up from her fingernails.

"I said 'Let's get these handcuffs off first, and then we'll take care of getting you back to a guy'," Arthur lied. "I keep the keys in the desk in my room."

He guided her over to the writing desk in his room and started digging through the drawers in it. _Where did I put the key? _He found it after a minute and turned to face Alfred/Amelia. He noticed her cheeks were pink. "Why are you blushing?"

She looked at the floor, then back at him. "I slept in your bed last night."

Arthur shrugged. "So? You've done that a lot of times before."

"But we were both guys then."

Arthur sighed, feeling slightly irritated again. "Do you have a point here?"

"Well . . ." Alfred/Amelia scratched her head. "I really don't remember anything after singing on the table. You didn't try anything, did you?"

Arthur felt his irritation turn to insulted anger. "What kind of a pervert do you take me for? !" I would never take advantage of a young lady when she's inebriated!"

Alfred/Amelia looked sheepish. "Sorry, but you were drunk too, weren't you? I mean I've seen you get drunk pretty easily, and if what I drank got me totally hosed, then . . ." Her eyes grew wider, and her face appeared to get slightly paler. "Wait. _**I**_ didn't do anything, did I?" she asked, panic rising in her voice.

Arthur tried again not to imagine what had happened to Canada and Ukraine and resisted the urge to ask. "I clearly remember what we both did last night. Nothing happened."

He looked down and inserted the key in his half of the restraints. It clicked in the lock, and the handcuff easily slipped off. Arthur started thinking about what _**had **_happened the previous night, and he felt his cheeks and ears grow warm. He bit his lip and hoped Alfred/Amelia didn't read too much into his flushed expression.

"Really? Cool." She let out a sigh of relief. "Guess I only need to apologize to Jack, Yao, Leon, and Kiku then§."

Arthur nodded, not looking up, as he grabbed Alfred/Amelia's right hand and unlocked her handcuff. He noticed that her knuckles looked a little bruised. He removed her restraint, set the handcuffs on the desk, and examined her hand. "How did you hurt your right hand? You punched France in the nose with your left hand."

"I did? Wow. I _really_ don't remember doing that," she said. "This must be from when I punched Gil yesterday when he . . . ahem . . . He really _does_ have a hard head, y'know?"

Arthur grabbed her left hand and studied it as well; the knuckles were also slightly bruised. "We should get some ice on these," he said, resisting the urge to "kiss it better" like he used to when America was younger.

"Nah. I'm fine."

"You're not fine!" he countered, turning over her right hand to check out her wrist. "Let me see how your wrist looks." It was slightly red where the handcuff had been. "You need to be more careful. You may be just as strong before but now you're . . . softer." He marveled at how small and thin her wrists looked and felt compared to his.

Alfred/Amelia jerked her hands out of Arthur's grip. "I _**said**_ it's fine!"

"Why are you being so stubborn?" Arthur said, looking up at her.

Alfred/Amelia's cheeks were a dark pink, and the rest of her face was a light pink. "I do take care of myself," she said, looking away. "You're just overreact— Grooooowl!" Her face turned bright red, and she covered her stomach. "Eh heh, I'm starving Artie," she said, looking back at him.

Arthur smirked. "I noticed. Should we go get some breakfast? Chef Gordon is still scheduled to cook one more breakfast."

Alfred/Amelia shook her head. "I don't want anyone to see me until we fix this," she said, pointing at her body.

"Well, I don't have anything to eat up here."

Alfred/Amelia walked over to Arthur's bedside table where his cell phone was sitting and dialed someone's number. "Hey Mattie? It's me, Al. Can you ask Chef Ramsay to make a breakfast for me?" she asked after someone picked up on the other line. "Nah. Nothing special. You know what I like."

She listened for a moment. "Yeah. Exactly! I knew you had good taste." She glanced over at Arthur. "Oh yeah. Have him make enough for two, please?. . . yup . . . and could you bring it up to Artie's room, pwetty please?"

Alfred/Amelia listened to her brother for a few moments and blushed at Matthew's response. "No I'm not— no, we didn't do that! That's not why!"

Arthur guessed what Canada had said and felt his cheeks grow warm in response.

"You're a pervert, Mattie, you know that? You sure take after France. The reason I need you to bring it up to Artie's room is because I'm still a girl, and I don't want anyone to see until Artie fixes it!" She listened for a moment more and nodded. "Thanks Bra. Also, don't tell anyone I'm still a chick, 'kay? . . . Thanks." She hung up Arthur's phone and put it back on the bedside table, then crawled back onto the bed.

Arthur walked over to the bed. "Oi. Don't sleep in. You've already gotten up."

Alfred/Amelia snuggled into the pillow. "Yeah, yeah. Just give me 10 minutes," she said, shifting to get comfortable. The skirt of the flapper-style dress moved up with the movement until it revealed her thighs.

Arthur looked away as he felt his heart palpitate at the view. He grabbed the blanket they had over themselves the night before and pulled it over her before the skirt could reveal anything higher up. Trying to reposition the skirt would only cause misunderstandings.

She turned to look at him. "Thanks Artie. You remembered that I hate getting cold."

"Y-y-yeah."

"Could ya wake me up when Mattie brings the food?" She snuggled into the pillow, fluffing it slightly as she did.

"Wait, you're really going back to sleep?"

Alfred/Amelia shifted to face him. "Duh. Unless you can think of a way to fix this."

Arthur thought for a moment, and a memory of the night before yesterday came into his mind. "Well, I just remembered that the witch's ca . . . assistant transformed me when she kissed me. Maybe it's that simple of a solution. We could try and see if it turns you back."

Alfred/Amelia propped herself up on the bed. "How do I know the whole kissing thing's the truth?" she asked, looking incredulous.

"Why would I lie?" Arthur countered, feeling his face flush a little.

She smirked. "Because you want to kiss me?"

Arthur felt his face grow hotter. "Why the bloody hell would I want to kiss _**you**_? ! I swear it's the truth. I wouldn't have even suggested it otherwise!"

Alfred/Amelia shrugged, sat all the way up, and patted the space in front of her. The blanket slumped around her thighs. "Guess it's worth a shot. Let's hurry up and get this over with, Artie."

Arthur climbed on the bed and faced her. A wave of nervousness swept over him. _What on earth? Stop reacting like this; it's just America_.

Alfred/Amelia got into a kneeling position in front of him, scooted closer, reached out, and then hesitated as if she didn't know where to put her hands. She blushed and looked nervous. "Ah, hell," she said finally, laughing and putting her hands on her lap. "I'll just lie back and think of England." She closed her eyes and waited.

Arthur blinked. "What did you just say?"

Alfred/Amelia opened her eyes and laughed. "It's an expression I heard on a TV show or movie I watched a little while ago. Some Victorian girl was getting married, and she was all nervous about it, and her mom said something like, 'You don't need enjoy it, darling. Just lie back and think of England.'"

_She watches Victorian-era pieces? _Arthur thought. _Wait . . . did she just say what I __**think**_ _she said?_

"Bet it must have been pretty embarrassing to have all those Victorian girls thinking of you when they were . . ." Alfred/Amelia continued. She stopped and blushed. "Well, my point was I'm only doing this because I haven't been given any other choices." She looked at Arthur and let out a small laugh.

_Is she making fun of me or teasing me?_ Arthur felt slight indignation rising inside. _I don't like the condescending tone that laugh had._

"You're probably not even a good kiss—" Arthur grabbed her before she could finish her comment and kissed her full on the mouth.

"Mmmm! . . . Mmmmm," she purred as wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He wrapped his arms around her waist. Fireworks seemed to explode all around them. When their lips finally parted, she let out a soft sigh. Arthur could feel her trembling in his arms and felt his face match the blush he saw on her face.

"Artie . . ."

"Yes?"

"It didn't work." She took a deep breath as if she'd forgotten how to breathe for a moment.

Arthur blinked. "Well, the witch's assistant actually kissed me twice."

"'Kay . . ." She grabbed him by his tie and pulled him into another kiss before he could say another word.

Arthur found himself pulling her in closer as sparks flew between them. He felt her hands loosen his tie and slip under his shirt collar; the warmth from her hands and arms felt like electricity against his skin as she wrapped them around him. The kiss blended right into another, more passionate one. Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

"Um . . . I-I-I can come b-b-b-back later when you're f-f-f-finished," someone said quietly.

Arthur and Alfred/Amelia immediately pulled away from each other and looked towards the doorway. Canada was standing there, his hands full with covered plates and his face bright red.

"I-I-I would have knocked, b-b-but as you can see, my hands are occupied, and well, um, the door was wide open." He glanced at the door as if he was waiting for it to back up his testimony.

Arthur realized two things at that moment: One, he had forgotten to close the door the night before, and two, Canada may have seen everything from the moment they started kissing. He immediately felt the heat of embarrassment flow over his head at that second thought.

Alfred/Amelia said, smoothing her hands over her hair. "Um . . . listen Mattie: I can explain. This isn't what it looks like. We were trying to break the spell."

Canada narrowed his eyes. "Uh huh. Sure you were." He took a moment to take in the scene a little more completely and smirked. "Look, I completely understand, so I'll just leave and—" He started to turn around.

"No! Wait!" Alfred/Amelia scrambled off the bed. "You brought me breakfast, right? I'm starving!"

Arthur debated whether he should fix the tie on his uniform or finish taking it off. He settled for the latter.

"Hey how'd you get that bruise on your forehead, Mattie?" Alfred/Amelia inspected her brother's face and looked like she wanted to touch the bruise but didn't dare to.

Canada touched the mark and shrugged. "It happened during the Truth or Dare thing. It's no big deal."

"Mm-kay, if you say so."

Alfred/Amelia and Matthew sat next to the bed and started uncovering the food he'd brought up. Arthur realized he felt hungry as well and was about to join them when he noticed that his cell phone was flashing the little light on it that indicated he had voice-mail. "Amelia, could you please save me some breakfast? I need to check this message."

She turned towards him—a piece of bacon in her hand—and nodded.

Arthur walked over to his adjoined bathroom, so he could have a little privacy.

"S-s-sorry I interrupted," Arthur overheard Canada say.

"Don't be. If we'd kept going, we would have . . . I don't know what we would have done . . . geez, I had no idea what a fantastic kisser he was . . ." Arthur heard her reply. "Not that I liked it or anything."

"Riiight. You didn't like it . . ." Arthur heard Canada say before hearing a smack from Alfred/Amelia. He felt a slight smile cross his face as he dialed his voice-mail and closed the bathroom door.

"Hello Arthur, this is Ceridwen," the message intoned. "First of all, let me apologize for not contacting you sooner. I won't bore you with all the details of being a witch on a witches' holiday like Samhaon. I would not have returned your call at all until November 2nd, but Kaydin told me the message was urgent. It's almost 2:00 a.m. here. I'll probably go to bed as soon as I finish this message, but I just wanted to let you know that I wasn't ignoring you. Second of all, I'd like to apologize about the spell . . . now keep in mind, Seren's a cat by nature, and even though I've sent her to school, it's hard to say how much she absorbed because as we all know cats have the attention span of . . . well, cats. Sorry, now I'm rambling . . . what I'm trying to say is—Beep!"

"Message received, November 1st, 6:50 a.m.," an artificial voice stated. The next message started before Arthur could react to the incomplete message.

"Arthur, Ceridwen again. This is why I should have sent you my familiar to begin with instead of using this blasted technology," she stated. "I am going to come back to fix the issues with the spell, but I've been elected as the United Kingdom's representative for the Witches Association here in the United States. I need to finish up today before catching a red-eye flight tonight. I still have many urgent duties to attend to, but I promise to call you as soon as I can if my familiar doesn't arrive before I get a chance to break away. Again, please remember it's not Seren's fault; she's only a cat."

"Message received, November 1st, 6:52 a.m.," an artificial voice stated.

Arthur glanced at the clock on the bathroom wall. It was only 7:00 a.m. He hypothesized that Ceridwen must have called when Alfred/Amelia had used his phone. He made a mental note to find out how to lengthen the time allotted for each message incoming to his voice-mail when he heard a knock at the door.

"Artie?" Alfred/Amelia said. "Your breakfast is getting cold. Are you almost finished?"

Arthur opened the door and looked out. "Thank you for letting me know. I'm still thinking about making a quick call before I come out."

She blushed when she looked at him and quickly looked down and away from him. "Sorry . . . were we too loud? Is that why you closed the door?"

"No, I just didn't want to miss anything said on my voice-mail, that's all."

"Um . . . Artie?"

"Yes?"

"How come you didn't go into this bathroom the other day when we . . . um . . . argued?" Alfred/Amelia asked, not making eye-contact with him. "This is a lot closer than across the hall."

Arthur felt his face grow hot as he remembered the reason why he'd ran out of the room. "W-w-well, yesterday was more about leaving my bedroom," he stammered. "I just ended up in the bathroom across the hall."

"Oh. Okay." She looked back at him and her cheeks turned a darker pink. Arthur noticed she seemed to be looking at his chest. "I-I-I'll just let you finish up your phone calls then." She turned and hurried over to where Matthew was sitting.

Arthur closed the door and looked down. It was only then he noticed that the top buttons of his shirt had been unbuttoned all the way down to where the V-neck in the tunic/jacket started, exposing his chest. _When did?_ he wondered, feeling heat flow into his cheeks. He thought about what they had done earlier, before Matthew arrived, and felt the heat travel all the way to his ears. _Did she . . . ?_

Arthur heard a tapping on his window, and out of curiosity, walked over and opened the window to look out. "Bloody hell!" he cried when something flew in and landed on the towel rail. An English robin stared at him from the rail. Arthur contemplated how he could help the bird fly out of the bathroom window without hurting it.

"Are you Arthur Kirkland?" the robin asked him in a distinct English accent.

Arthur blinked and stared at the bird. _I must still be drunk from last night_.

The bird flapped twice. "Bollocks! Are you deaf? Are you Arthur Kirkland, or do I need to look elsewhere? My mistress said to only give my messages to him." Suddenly the arrival of this strange bird made perfect sense.

"Yes. I'm Arthur."

"Finally . . . sheesh, this is the fourth window I've tapped on, but you're the only one who opened up the blasted things," the robin said. "I was starting to worry I wouldn't get to do my job. I'm sorry I didn't know who you were; we didn't meet the other night because I had already gone to sleep."

"Your mistress didn't mention you either."

The robin looked like it sulked at hearing his comment. "Yes, well, I guess it's because I'm so small, and my main duty is delivering messages, so she tends to forget to talk about me. Maybe if I stayed in my human form more—"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's starting to bother me; did you fly here from the United States?" Arthur asked. "Your mistress only left a message about 10 minutes ago . . . how did you get here so fast?"

The robin made a sound that Arthur swore was a scoff. "I got here the same way you were sent home the other day, but I won't go into details about witches' dimensional portals and familiars and stuff like that. It might just all go over your head."

Arthur blinked. _I can't believe a bird just insulted __**my**_ _intelligence_. "Um . . . Robin," he began.

"My name's Rowan," it said (the robin's voice didn't give Arthur any clue what gender the bird was and the name gave him no hints either).

Arthur folded his arms. "Okay, Rowan. Why didn't Ceridwen just call me again?"

"Huh? Didn't you get her second message?" Rowan asked. "She's busy helping out the other witches in the States. Anyway, I'm supposed to deliver a rather lengthy message along with some instructions, so here goes."

The robin cleared its throat. "I owe you a refund," Rowan said, mimicking Ceridwen's voice. "The other night when I came out from preparing the pieces of the moon for my other client, I found your spell still stuck in my spell book. When I asked Seren about it, she told me that you had copied everything you needed into a notebook you had with you. Naturally, I assumed from what she'd told me you had received the correct spell. So I sent her out to collect my next client before our flight to the United States. My week had been rather busy, so I thought nothing of the fact that my ingredient list for the other client's potion was missing. I decided I had forgotten to write one and rewrote one for him."

The robin stopped for a moment to preen. "Stupid cat," Rowan stated in its own voice. "I wouldn't have made that mistake. Ooo you have shinys in here." The bird stared at the ornamental prism Arthur had as part of his bathroom's decor, then acted as if suddenly realizing something. "Oops. Back to the message."

_Somehow I think you would have made the same mistake_, Arthur thought sardonically.

"You can imagine my surprise when I got your last message," Rowan continued in Ceridwen's voice. "You see, the other client was coming to me for a magical sex change. He wasn't satisfied with the results promised him by modern medicine and had heard that if he came to me, his transformation to a woman would be more natural and complete. I could actually _**change**_ him into a woman, not just make him _**look**_ like one. My incantation 'Drawsnewid i mewn i hardd, merch ddeniadol' means 'transform into a beautiful, seductive woman' . . . needless to say, whoever has his name attached to the spell will become a woman, and if the spell is interrupted . . . well, I'm not sure what happens, I've never had that happen before. I believe it's not permanent . . . I think . . . I'll have to examine your friend, Alfred, when I return tomorrow. Rowan will make the initial inquiry today, though. I'm sorry I can't return any earlier."

Arthur stared at Rowan in stunned silence.

"Well, that's the end of the message," Rowan said matter-of-factually. "Oh wait. I forgot one part: the instructions."

The robin cleared its throat again. "I can imagine your distress and desire to reverse the effects of the spell right now," Rowan said, mimicking Ceridwen's voice again, "but please don't try anything until I get back. First of all, your friend won't be able to morph back and forth like Seren and my other familiars can because—well, I am assuming this—Alfred doesn't know _**any**_ magic and that's what enables them to do it. Second of all, I specifically want to warn you not to try kissing. I'm sure it might not have crossed your mind to try that yet, but I'm sending the warning just to be on the safe side. That method of transformation only works for Seren, Kaydin, and Rowan as far as I have observed, and I speculate that's because their transformations are long-time ones and also because they know rudimentary magic. Besides, even if it did work, _**you**_ would be the one who changed, and you'd change into whatever your friend was thinking of."

Arthur blushed at this information.

Rowan cocked its head to one side. "You already tried it, didn't you?" the robin said in a cheeky tone.

"I . . . um . . . so why am I still me then?"

The robin made a motion that looked like a shrug. "Probably because your friend was thinking of you when she kissed you."

Arthur felt the blush travel from his cheeks to his entire face.

"And that means the potion is working," Rowan continued.

Arthur blinked. "I'm sorry. I don't quite follow you."

Rowan let out a small laugh. "According to what mistress told me the other day, the potion is one part sex change, one part love potion as requested by the client."

"What? !" Arthur said. "Love . . ." He started to recall the other nations' reactions to Alfred/Amelia. "Wait, so who does the potion affect? Because I can't tell who was acting more love-drunk last night: America or the men around her."

Rowan laughed again. "The other client hoped to use the potion to make the person he liked fall in love with him after he changed into a woman. Mistress didn't like the underhanded nature of that," the robin stated, "so she created what she called a 'two-way affection enhancer' designed to **_encourage _**feelings in both the partaker of the potion and others around him or her. If feelings the affected parties have for one another are friendship, they'll grow into feelings of love. Hatred becomes friendship, disdain or indifference becomes admiration or acceptance, and love becomes even stronger love, and so on. That's why most of the ingredients are aphrodisiacs."

The bird flapped its wings. "Are those pancakes I smell?" Rowan said casually as if the information just divulged was nothing special. "Can I have some?"

"What?" Arthur said, reeling a little from all the new knowledge.

"The paaaancaaaakes," Rowan said slowly as if Arthur was slow himself. "Oh hey, talking about the potion reminded me. Mistress said she hopes you didn't let this Alfred fellow drink all of it since it will be easier to reverse everything if there's less of the potion to purge from the body. You see, the part of the potion that's for the sex change will infuse the change into all of the body's tissues."

Arthur blinked and realized that he couldn't hear voices in the bedroom any more. He quickly opened the door and looked around the room. Matthew was drinking some hot chocolate.

"Where did she go?" Arthur asked.

"Al . . . Amelia said she didn't want her cocoa, so she went to get some coffee from her room," Canada said, pointing out the open door to Arthur's room.

Rowan hopped up on Arthur's shoulder. "Does your friend like coffee?" the robin whispered.

"Why?" Arthur asked back quietly.

"Well, to make consumption more pleasant, Mistress's potions mimic whatever is the target's favorite thing to drink," Rowan quietly stated.

"America loves coffee," Arthur whispered.

"Then I'll bet that 'coffee from her room' is the potion. If we want to stop her from drinking more of it, we'd better hurry," Rowan said quietly.

"Um . . . are you talking to that robin?" Matthew asked Arthur.

"Is there a problem with that?" Rowan said before Arthur could answer, puffing up its feathers to make itself look bigger.

Arthur face-palmed. _What was the point in whispering just now if you were just going to give yourself away like that? _

"Um, n-n-no I guess not," Matthew said to Rowan.

"All right then," the robin said. "Let's get to this Alfred—Amelia person as soon as possible, Arthur."

Arthur nodded and tried not to make eye-contact with the staring Matthew as he left the room. He walked down the hallway, knocked on Alfred/Amelia's door, and opened it when she didn't respond.

She was gulping down the last of the contents of a cup she was holding. She looked over at him and wiped her mouth. "Hey Artie. You know, I might need to send Mattie to see if he can get some _**real**_ coffee. No offense but this British stuff just isn't strong enough; I still feel a little sleepy."

Arthur and Rowan stared at the empty cup.

"You drank it all?" Arthur asked.

"Uh yeah," she said, smiling sheepishly and shrugging. "Sorry I didn't bring you any, but I only had enough of that stuff you made last night for one person."

Arthur released the handle of the door.

"Oh Bollocks," Rowan and Arthur said at the same time.

* * *

**A/N**

**Well, well, how will America react to a talking robin, hmm? (she believes in aliens but not fairies or other magical things. . .)**

**§ Jack is Australia, and Leon is Hong Kong. Jack is fanon name for the country from Down Under. I didn't like any of Himaruya's preferences: Ralph, Christian, Kyle, and Jett. As for Leon, while Himaruya has revealed Hong Kong's potential names to be either Wang Jia Long (Wong Kha Loung in Cantonese) and Li Xiao Chun (Lei Siu Chun in Cantonese), Hong Kong was also given the English name Leon. Sorry if that was confusing at all.**

***15 centimeters = about 6 inches; 8 centimeters = approximately 3 inches**

**Translations:**

**Angleterre = England (French)**

**mi amigo = my friend**

**Inglaterra =England (Spanish) ;P**

**Samhaon = Gaelic harvest festival held on October 31–November 1. Ceridwen is just using the old-fashioned reference for Halloween here because that's how she's used to referring to it. **

**Rowan = Little red one (Gaelic, gender neutral name . . . sorta like how both boys and girls can go by the name . . . Robin {yes, I know I'm being punny}) X3**

**Arthur's slang:**

**ratted = extremely drunk**

**manky plonker = disgusting idiot**

* * *

**Okay . . . for a refresher on the potion so you can see what Rowan was talking about (yes, this was all planned from the beginning).**

_The part of the potion that turned Alfred into a woman:_

**_Sweet myrtle:_ symbol of beauty and chastity**

_**Roses:**_ **associated with pure love and femininity**

**_Sugar & the strange spice:_ from the rhyme "What are Little Girls Made Of?" nursery rhyme- "sugar and spice and everything nice". ^_^ **

_**Pomegranate: **_**symbol of fertility (or femininity)**

_**Pieces of the Moon: **_**symbolizes woman and has been associated with various goddesses-Artemis, Diana, Hecate, and Kuan Yin (all of whom specialized in chastity, childbirth, grace, purity and so ****on). **

_And the part that is the love potion:_

**_Lilac:_ symbol of first love.**

_**Damiana leaves: **_**used primarily as an aphrodisiac for both sexes. **

_**Ylang-ylang: **_**has an intense floral, sweet, jasmine-like, almost narcotic sensual, euphoric aroma. It increases libido and energy between lovers and is considered one of the more powerful ****aphrodisiac scents. (on a side note, it also improves circulation, and makes the hair and skin ****healthy).**

_**Early purple orchid:**_ **used in sex and as an aphrodisiac .**

**_Anise_: stimulates libido.**


	11. Warning: Audience Reaction May Vary

**Step 11: Papparapa! Warning: Your Audience's Reactions May Vary **

Alfred/Amelia stared at the robin on Arthur's shoulder but didn't say anything."I didn't realize you wanted some of that coffee," she repeated, still looking at the bird. "If I'd known, I would have saved ya some."

Rowan laughed. "He wouldn't drink that stuff if you begged him."

Alfred/Amelia's eyes got wide.

"After all," the robin continued, "it's a pot—" Arthur grabbed Rowan off his shoulder and turned his back to the younger nation.

"She doesn't know about the potion," Arthur hissed quietly, "and I don't want her to find out about it from you. Understand?"

Rowan let out a little cough. "Got it. Please let me go," the bird squeaked out. Arthur released Rowan who flew over to a chair and landed on the back of it. "Crikey, I don't see what the big deal is," the robin said. "She's going to find out anyway when Mistress Ceridwen gets here."

Alfred/Amelia stared at the small red-headed bird, then looked over at Arthur and pointed at Rowan. "Artie, that bird is talking, like, totally speaking English with an accent like yours."

"Um, yes it is," Arthur replied, his voice cracking slightly. "Rowan is a friend of mine. Listen Amelia, I can explain—"

"Kyaaa! He's so cuuuuute!" she said, clasping her hands together and giggling.

Arthur blinked. _That was __**not**__ the response I was expecting._

She ran over to where the robin was sitting. Rowan hopped backwards onto the table near the chair. When she had almost reached the table, she held out her hand. "Come here, little cutie-pie," she said, coaxing with her fingers.

The robin fluttered over and landed on her finger. "You think I'm cute?" Rowan asked.

Alfred/Amelia nodded. "You're totally adorable," she said, letting out a giggle.

Rowan flew into the air and did a somersault. Mid-somersault, the robin morphed into his human form: a 12-year-old boy with red hair and violet eyes, dressed in a brownish-gray double-breasted suit. Spreading his arms wide like wings, he easily landed lightly on the floor, and Arthur guessed he was approximately 140 centimeters tall* and probably the same weight as Latvia.

"How about now?" Rowan asked her.

"Kyaaa! You're even more adorable!" she said, running over to him and embracing him. She lifted him in the air while giggling and whirling him around. Rowan hugged her back. Arthur noticed his face was snuggled right up against her bosom, and a touch of jealously rose up inside him. Alfred/Amelia set him down, but Rowan didn't release her.

"You sure feel nice to hug, lady," he said, grinning. He snuggled against her, caressing her in various places on her body.

Arthur glared at Rowan, his vision clouding white and indignation rising up from his stomach.

Alfred/Amelia giggled. "Careful, Sweetie-pie, I'm ticklish!"

Rowan released her and blushed. "Um, you sure are a nice lady. Can I ask you for something?"

Alfred/Amelia nodded.

"That man promised me pancakes," he said, pointing at Arthur. "I can smell 'em, but I don't see any in here. Where are they?"

_That little liar! _Arthur fumed. _I promised him no such thing._

"Aren't you just adorable," she said. "Does that mean you're hungry, you widdle sweetie?"

Rowan nodded. Arthur mentally retched at the baby-talk.

"Well, Cutie-pie, there are pancakes in my room," she said, holding out her hand. "If we hurry, you might get to eat them while they're still warm."

Rowan smiled and took her hand.

"Just one bloody minute! That's _my_ breakfast," Arthur said marching over to them.

"Aww. Don't be jealous, Artie," Alfred/Amelia said, slugging him on the arm with her free hand. "I'll ask Mattie to go order you another one."

"Yeah. Don't be jealous, _Artie_," the bird/boy said, sticking out his tongue. "I'm sure you'll get all of her attention once my Mistress gets here."

_Why you little brat! _Arthur almost shouted, but he just grit his teeth instead. Rowan was probably right; if America found out everything, he didn't know how she would react. Hopefully she would control any anger she felt later and not beat the living daylights out of him.

"Let's go, Puddin'," she said, leading the robin-turned-shota out the door.

Arthur's left eye twitched as he watched them leave, unsure whether or not he wanted to follow and watch any more of the interaction between them.

"Why is your eye twitching, England?" someone said off to his left. Arthur looked at the source of the voice.

"Flying Mint Bunny!" he exclaimed, embracing his feathered friend.

"Hello, England!" the light green bunny squealed, snuggling against him.

"Did you come to cheer me up?" Arthur asked.

"Of course! You summon me every time you're upset or sad," FMB said. "That's how it works."

Arthur blinked. _I'm upset? _He furrowed his brow. "It's just America. Why would I be upset?" he vocalized.

"Because you want her all to yourself?" FMB offered, even though Arthur wasn't really asking for an answer.

"I'm with the flying fur-ball," someone said off to their right. Arthur and Flying Mint Bunny looked at the source of the other voice.

The fairy in the red dress fluttered in the air, arms crossed. "America was really laying on the pet names with that bird boy, and all she ever calls you is 'Artie'. The only way such behavior would tick me off is I wanted her to pay attention to me."

"Don't be silly, you two," Arthur said, releasing his minty friend. He waved off their suggestions. "Anything that looks like jealous behavior is merely that love potion of Ceridwen's working on me."

The red fairy smirked. "If you say so, England. You know better about that than either of us."

"I'll prove it. I'll go in there right now and have a perfectly calm and un-jealous conversation with them," Arthur said.

"Un-jealous isn't a word," Red said as she twinkled from sight.

"I know that. I meant confident and uninterested conversation." It was then Arthur noticed he was talking to empty air. FMB had also disappeared from sight.

Arthur sighed, shrugged, and walked down the hall towards the room America was staying in. Alfred/Amelia was sitting on the bed, watching Rowan stuff his face with pancakes with a goofy smile on her face. Arthur did his best not to roll his eyes at how she was acting. She looked up when he came into the room.

"Hey Artie, took ya long enough," she said. "Mattie went to order you another breakfast. It was sweet of you to let this kid have yours."

Embarrassed all of a sudden, Arthur couldn't help but smile. "I don't mind. He came a long way after all."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I came through a dimensional portal from the States," Rowan said, chomping down on a forkful of pancakes.

"Huh. No kidding," Alfred/Amelia said, leaning on her elbow and propping herself up on her hand. "So are we talking a space-bound hypergate system, a space-time portal, time-jump portal, or a star-gate?" Then she got an excited expression on her face. "Or were you actually able to open and close a wormhole without imploding the planet?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow._ What the hell is she talking about?_

Rowan laughed. "You're smart about these things so I'll tell you: it's a magic portal, but it functions the same way as a space-bound hypergate system. You have to pay a toll, though, if you want to go through it. The toll has to be something precious and part of you, like a drop of blood or, in my case, a feather."

"Ah I see!" she said, nodding. "Can you transport more than just yourself or is it single-fare passage?"

"It's single-fare," he replied. "If you want to take something or someone with you, that thing either has to share your toll or needs to pay a toll as well. For example, if you put some of your blood on the item, then you could take it with you."

Arthur blinked. Up until Rowan said that, his head was spinning at their conversation. He hadn't really understood what the two of them were talking about. Now, Seren's instructions from the other night were starting to make sense. _That's why I had to prick my finger on the rose thorn and not just on some knife or something like that._

"Wow. I had no idea portals like that existed," Alfred/Amelia said, her eyes sparkling brightly.

"They're all over the world," Rowan stated. "You just have to know where to go to find them."

She looked at Rowan. "Wait, so they're in stationary locations? They don't move around?"

The boy looked at her incredulously. "You've got one right near your country. What do you think the Bermuda Triangle is?"

"What? You're kidding me," Alfred/Amelia said, her mouth hanging open.

Rowan shook his head. "Nope. But I wouldn't try using that one; the toll is way too high because of the size and power of the portal. That thing will _literally_ eat you whole—well, maybe not you nations, but your bodies are different from normal humans—plus, no one knows where it exits." He looked over at Arthur, then back at her. "Since you're involved, I'll tell you: Mistress Ceridwen's front gate has one, but she's enchanted it so that the exit portal changes. Depending on the toll you pay, you'll go to a variety of places like a gate near the stone circle in Builth Wells, or to Stonehenge, or to the moors of Scotland, or even to your hometown; it just magically takes you where you really want to go. If you don't pay the toll, it doesn't end up a mess like you could with other portals, though; you just end up in the middle of the village near Mistress's home."

Alfred/Amelia clasped her hands together. "Wow! I have to say that's pretty awesome magic that your mistress can do."

"Wait a minute; you don't believe in magic," Arthur stated.

"Sure I do," she said, turning towards him. She gestured at her body. "If I didn't, how could I accept this costume-spell of yours?"

Rowan turned to look at Arthur. _Costume-spell?_ he mouthed. Arthur put a finger to his lips and shook his head. The boy shrugged and took another bite of pancake. A wave of relief rushed through him, grateful the witch's familiar chose not to reveal the truth.

"Though magic is way too unpredictable. Can you imagine if I tried summoning some evil creature to do my bidding and Russia appeared instead?" She let out a laugh.

"Uhhh. Yeah. That would be terrifyingly horrible," Arthur replied, feeling a bit sheepish. _How the hell did she know that happened?_

"Not to mention embarrassing," she said with a laugh. "I wouldn't be able to face my spell-casting magical friends after something like that. 'sides, science or that space technology stuff Tony has is way cooler anyway."

Arthur let out a couple of small laughs to hide his reaction to her words. _Well, at least I can be grateful America didn't interrupt me the second time I tried summoning.+_

Rowan let out a little burp and stood up. "Thank you for the pancakes, lady."

Alfred/Amelia climbed off the bed, walked over to him, and patted him on the head. "You're welcome, Cutie."

The boy hugged her again, snuggling into her bosom a second time, and she willingly returned his affection. Arthur suddenly had an overwhelming urge to pounce on the embracing couple to separate them but managed to control himself at the last moment. _Why do I care who America hugs?_ he wondered. _Blast this stupid love potion! _

When they finally finished hugging, Rowan stepped back from her and then got a shy expression on his face. "Can I ask you for one more thing before I go? You're such a nice and pretty lady. Can I give you a kiss?"

_You bloody flirt, _Arthur thought.

"Of course, Sweetie," she said, leaning over and offering her cheek to him.

Arthur noticed that her flapper-style dress sloped open a little more when she leaned over. This gave him a front row seat to a view of her cleavage and the lacy top part of her red bra. As a gentleman, he knew he should look away but couldn't find the willpower to do so.

Rowan stood on his tiptoes, grabbed her face, and turned it to face his. Then he kissed her full on the mouth. Her eyes grew wide, and she seemed frozen on the spot. Rowan moved away from her lips and let out a little laugh. He licked his lips. "You taste like maple syrup," he said before kissing her a second time.

Arthur marched over and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. "Oi! Stop being fresh, you cheeky brat," he said, scowling at him.

"Jealous?" Rowan asked, smiling up at him.

"I . . . you . . . Excuse us for a moment, Amelia," Arthur said. She nodded, still stunned. He dragged the boy over to a corner of the room.

"Relax, Arthur, that was all part of the inquiry," Rowan stated.

"What the hell are you talking about? Since when did acting like a letch count as examining someone?" Arthur asked quietly, glancing over at Alfred/Amelia for a moment.

Rowan laughed. "Acting like a letch? That's a riot. I'm not even attracted to her," he whispered, following Arthur's cues to be quieter. "Now if she was a female robin, all fat and fluffy . . ." He absentmindedly gestured in front of himself like he had breasts.

Arthur grabbed him by the collar again and lifted him partially off the floor.

"Blimey, I was kidding," Rowan managed to cough out. "Let go."

Arthur released him. "You're a kid. You shouldn't even be thinking about _that_ kind of stuff."

"Codswallop. How old do you think I am?" Rowan asked, rubbing his neck. "We familiars don't age like humans; we're actually more like you nations. I may look 12, but I'm a lot older than that. As for knowing about females, I've mated with lots of hens and raised many broods over the years."

Arthur's head spun as he tried to equate "father" with the "child" standing in front of him. "That's no excuse for groping America and kissing her without her permission."

Rowan scoffed. "Arthur. Seriously. That's part of my job."

"I'll bet you tell every girl you fondle and kiss that," Arthur hissed, narrowing his eyes.

Rowan rolled his eyes. "In order to make an initial determination of how deeply and thoroughly the potion has ingrained itself in her body, I have to use physical touch," he explained quietly. "Also, to ascertain how completely the spell worked, I need to kiss the subject twice in an attempt to transform him or her."

Both of them glanced over at Alfred/Amelia. She had sat down on the bed and looked a little flustered.

"As you can see, she's still in the form you conjured," Rowan whispered. He rubbed his chin and nodded. "You must have some pretty amazing magical powers, Arthur."

Arthur blushed. "Thank you—wait a second—that's not what the point here," he said quietly. "If she's stuck that way, she might not ever forgive me."

Rowan raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care if she forgives you?"

"I . . . that is . . . it would be unfortunate to have America as an enemy," Arthur replied sheepishly, heat enveloping his head.

Rowan narrowed his eyes. "Uh-huh. I'm sure that's the reason you want her to like you," he whispered, smiling cheekily. "But putting that aside," he continued, gesturing like he was setting an invisible box off to the side of them. "I don't think you need to worry about her not forgiving you."

Arthur furrowed his brow. "I don't under—"

"Has she been acting all lovey-dovey towards you?" Rowan interrupted.

Arthur nodded.

"You don't need to worry about anything then," Rowan said quietly. "She'll forgive you. Trust me. Like I said, I've mated with lots of hens and as long as they're acting lovey-dovey, you can get them to forgive you for _anything_."

Arthur glanced over at Alfred/Amelia. She appeared to be staring off into the space in front of her mumbling something.

"Man, she's out of it . . ." Rowan said. "So what are you going to do until Mistress gets here tomorrow morning?"

"What do you think I should do?" Arthur asked, then mentally rolled his eyes when he remembered what Rowan was. _I can't believe I just asked a bird for advice._

Rowan shrugged. "You've got two choices: explain to her what actually happened—that the spells were accidentally switched and that Mistress is coming to fix it. Or stall and distract her until Mistress arrives tomorrow."

"I can't tell her—!" Arthur started to yell, then lowered his voice. "I'm not going to tell her that the reason she's a girl is because of a cocked-up spell. I don't care what you say about her being affectionate. She'll definitely blame me for it and hate me for the rest of eternity."

"Do whatever you want to do, mate." Rowan waved his hands. "I'm not going to tell her. I've got work to do." He straightened his clothes. "If you need me later, I'll be at home. I'll text you Mistress's home number later." He walked over to the bedroom window and opened it, then turned to look at Alfred/Amelia again. "I've been meaning to ask you for a while now . . ."

"Yes?"

"What kind of kinky game are you two playing anyway?" Rowan continued as he gave Arthur a once-over. "I know some humans like to dress up when they—"

_Bloody hell! I forgot we were still in costume. _"This isn't what it looks like," he interrupted, his face afire with embarrassment. "W-w-we're dressed like this for a fancy dress party we had last night," he stuttered out.

Rowan sent him a crooked smile. "Uh huh. Suuuurre." He shrugged and shook his head. "You can tell me the truth. Been there, done that . . .well, not this," he said, waving his hand at both nations. "But you know what I mean."

"That _was_ the truth!" Arthur protested.

"And you slept in your clothes last night because you were sooooo sleepy . . ." Rowan offered.

"Yes. That's it exactly."

Rowan gave a half-salute as he turned to leave. "Whatever. I'll never understand you humans and your weird fetishes."

"It's not like that," Arthur said, glancing over to see if Alfred/Amelia had heard them. She was still staring into space and muttering. He turned back to Rowan and saw that the boy had returned to robin form.

The little bird made a sound that sounded a lot like a laugh. "Don't get into too much trouble while you wait for Mistress to return," he said, his tone a teasing one. He then fluttered out the window and was gone before Arthur could say anything else in his defense.

Sighing, Arthur walked over to where Alfred/Amelia was sitting on her bed.

"My first kiss . . . that kid stole my first kiss . . ." she was muttering. She reached up and touched her lips.

_That's what she was spacing out about all this time?_ Arthur thought. "Um Amelia . . ."

She continued to touch her lips. Tears began to edge her eyes.

"America!" Arthur said a little louder.

Alfred/Amelia took her hand away from her mouth and looked up as if she was noticing him for the first time. "Yeah?"

"That kiss with the bird-boy wasn't your first kiss," Arthur said.

"But I haven't kissed anyone before today," she protested.

Arthur laughed. "I don't think kissing a witch's familiar counts." The memory of _their_ kiss from earlier returned to his mind. _Wait so if she's never kissed anyone before_, _then that means I was her first . . . _His heart started to pound so loudly he worried she could hear it. "Um, Amelia, when we . . . ah . . . that is . . . our experiment earlier . . . you don't have to count that either."

"Hmm?" She looked at him absentmindedly. After a moment or two, her face registered that she realized what he was talking about, and her face crimsoned. "Oh yeah! We . . ." She touched her lips again and stared blankly ahead.

Arthur lightly grabbed her by the shoulders. "Like I said, those kisses don't have to count."

Alfred/Amelia locked eyes with him, and his stomach flip-flopped. She reached up and cupped his face gently, pulling him into a tender touch on the lips. "That one counts," she said softly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, crossing her hands behind him, and began to bestow more kisses all over: on both cheeks, the bridge of his nose, the tip of his nose (which was preceded by an Eskimo kiss), and most of all, on his lips.

As if he almost couldn't help himself, Arthur eagerly responded by caressing her cheek with one hand and threading his fingers behind her head and through her hair with the other all while returning the kisses she was giving him. A wave of amusement washed over him when he noticed that her lips really _did_ taste like maple syrup.

"They all count," she said when she finally moved slightly away from him. She kept her arms wrapped around his neck, titillating his skin by tracing her fingers in figure 8s and circles against it. She smiled tenderly at him, and once again Arthur had to remind himself to breathe.

"I-I-I see," he managed to get out. _Bloody hell, calm down Arthur, _he told himself._ It's just the effects of the potion making her—__and you—a__ct like __this__._

"You should probably go get your breakfast, Artie. I'm sure it's done by now," Alfred/Amelia said as she absentmindedly reached up and played with the hair above one ear by twirling a few strands around her fingers. This action caused a ticklish-tingly reaction to flow over his entire body, and he found himself unable to move away from her.

Suddenly, Arthur got the uncanny sensation that they were being watched. He glanced towards the doorway and saw Matthew standing and staring, mouth hanging open. Arthur's face ignited even hotter than when Rowan had teased him. "H-h-how long where you standing there watching us?"

"I-I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt," Canada said, setting down the breakfast plate he'd brought with him. "I'll leave you two alone. I've got a date with Ukraine anyway and I'm late so I'll just—" He dashed out of the room before Arthur could stop him, slamming the door as he left.

Arthur stared at the door. _Why do people keep misunderstanding what's going on between us? It's just the effects of the potion._

"Silly Mattie, we weren't doing anything that he needed to leave us alone for," Alfred/Amelia said, getting up from the bed. She walked over to where a black patent-leather purse was sitting on a dressing table and pulled out her cell. "But I guess I can text him to tell him as much, just to be on the safe side." Arthur looked at her. Her tone was nonchalant, but her cheeks looked as pink as he was sure his face was at that moment.

"Right," Arthur said. "Never hurts to be clear."

She nodded, acknowledging him, and tapped a quick message into her phone before slipping it back into the purse.

Feeling a little relieved, Arthur started to head for the door when he remembered Rowan's suggestion. "Amelia, what are your plans for today?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I dunno."

"Well, the witch, Ceridwen, will be here tomorrow morning to help clear up why the spell hasn't ended yet," he said. "How would you like me to help you return the costumes that you didn't use? I could drive you to the shops."

"Artie, are you sure you want to use your precious car for that?" She smirked at him. "You wouldn't let me drive it at all during WWII."

"If I didn't want to help you out, I wouldn't have offered," he replied.

"'Kay," she said, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear and smiling. "Then I'll take you up on the offer."

Arthur nodded. "I'll come to get you in about 20 minutes then, after you change out of that costume and I finish my breakfast."

"Artie."

"Yes?"

"You probably should change, too," she said, nodding at the police uniform. "I think you look _good _in that uniform, but everyone else will know you slept in your costume, and since we were cuffed together, they'll think . . . um . . . you know." She wiggled her eyebrows.

Arthur's face grew warm again. "I'll be back in 30 minutes then," he snapped, storming out of the room as he heard her let out a little giggle. _I think you look __**good**__ in that uniform_ suddenly registered in his mind. Arthur's heart leapt to his throat, and butterflies swarmed his stomach. _Relax_, he commanded himself. _It's just the potion making you react like that._

After Arthur had finished eating breakfast, he knocked on Alfred/Amelia's door to see if she was ready.

"Come in!" she called from inside.

He pushed open the door and found her stuffing some clothing into a bag. She was wearing a feminine sweater, some jeans, and the suede boots from the "bison" costume.

"Aren't you going to return those boots?" he asked, trying his best not to show how disappointed that she wasn't wearing the white with yellow polka-dots dress he didn't see her try on the night before.

She shook her head. "The store said 'No refunds'. I'll give them to one of the other girls later." She scooped up half of the bags on the bed. "Wouldja mind carrying the rest, Artie?"

"No, I don't mind at all," he said as he grabbed the rest of the bags. As he headed downstairs, he noticed that she was hiding behind him. "What are you doing?" he asked her finally.

"Is anyone still here?" she asked, glancing around him. "I told everyone the costume was only for last night. I can't imagine what they'll say if they knew I'm still—"

"No vay! You're still a chick?" Prussia hollered.

Alfred/Amelia squeaked and hid behind Arthur.

"Kesesese. No point in hiding," Prussia said. "I've already texted everyone about this."

"Oooo! Gil how could you!" Alfred/Amelia said, stepping out from her hiding spot.

"Click!"

Prussia smirked and lowered his phone. "This is so going up on my Facebook and my tumblr pages." He punched a button on his phone and then put it away.

Alfred/Amelia stood frozen to the spot, looking like death was about to come upon her.

"So you liked being a voman so much that you decided to stay like that?" Purssia asked casually.

"No. The spell just hit a hiccup," Arthur said, moving all the bags he was carrying to one arm and grabbing Alfred/Amelia's arm. "Come on Amelia." He pulled her towards the door but stopped before they reached it. "Prussia, your brother sent me some interesting pictures of you from last year's New Year's Eve party when I asked him how it was. I think I'll send them to a certain person."

Prussia went pale.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate them," Arthur said, smirking.

"Vait," he squeaked.

Arthur cocked his head to the side. "Why should I wait? You didn't for poor America here. You didn't even get her permission to post that photo."

"I'll take it down." Prussia pulled out his cell and started working on the task at hand. "But I can't stop anyone who's already seen it."

"Since most of the nations are sight-seeing or on flights back home, I don't think that will be many," Arthur stated, "but if I see that picture circulating, I guess I'll just have to take action."

Prussia started tapping on the screen of his phone like crazy as the other two nations walked out the door. Well, as Arthur guided Alfred/America out the door. She was still frozen. He loaded the trunk with all the bags and then guided her over to the passenger side of the car.

When the door to the garage opened, she started mumbling something about no one ever taking her seriously again.

"Amelia, it's all right," Arthur said.

"No it's not. Gil loves to humiliate me, and after yesterday, he thinks he has a right to," she said. "When that picture starts getting around—"

"Weren't you paying attention just now?" Arthur raised an eyebrow. "I just traded blackmail for blackmail. Although all my pictures show is Prussia drunk out of his mind. The really embarrassing photos I'm reserving for when I need them."

"Wait. So it's not going to be all over the web?"

Arthur shook his head. "Hopefully not."

Alfred/Amelia embraced him, planting several kisses on his cheek. "Thank you so much! Thank you so much! I may be even more awesome than Gil, but I just didn't know what I was going to do after he took my photo."

"Stop that, you git, I'm about to start driving," Arthur said, removing her arms. _It's just the potion_, he told his pounding heart. He turned onto the street and headed for Oxford Street.

Returning the clothes was easier than Arthur thought it would be. He noticed that there was a distinct difference, though, than when he returned items. The female shop assistants would chat happily with Alfred/Amelia as they returned the items and asked for her method of payment, and to his surprise, she was able hold up her end of the conversation. The male America would _never_ have been able to do that.

"So is this your boyfriend?" one of the shop assistants in one of the shops had asked.

"Ah . . .Um . . . I didn't say that he was," Alfred/Amelia said, looking away from the group.

"So he's not your boyfriend," clarified another shop assistant who was prepping the returned clothes for rehanging.

Alfred/Amelia looked down at the floor. "I didn't say that either," she replied quietly.

The shop assistants looked at each other and giggled. "No need to feel shy, luv," the first one said. "Men love to hear you call them 'yours'. Go ahead: say it. He's your lover."

Arthur's face ignited at the shop assistant's comment. Alfred/Amelia's mouth dropped open but not a sound came out of it.

"Sorry these items didn't work for you. We hope you'll come back and visit us again," the shop assistant said as she handed Alfred/Amelia the return receipt.

Alfred/Amelia took the receipt, shoved it in her purse (which for some reason she insisted she couldn't return because it was free), and grabbed Arthur's hand, practically dragging him out of the shop while the shop assistants continued to giggle about his and her reactions.

"Augh! That was so embarrassing," she said once they'd gotten out of the shop. "Good thing that was the last return I needed to make."

"So we're finished?" Arthur asked. The warmth from his face had traveled to his ears: she hadn't let go of his hand yet.

"Hmm? Yeah, we're done," Alfred/Amelia said. Suddenly her stomach growled loudly.

"Would you like to get some lunch?" he suggested.

She blushed and nodded.

"I know a great restaurant a short walk from here," Arthur said. "Shall we?" He squeezed her hand to remind her that she was still holding it. Instead of letting go, she maneuvered her hand so that her fingers were interlocked with his.

"Lead the way," she said, smiling at him.

Arthur's hand started tingling and it seemed like his heart had taken residence up in his palm. Trying his best to ignore those reactions but unwilling to be the first to let go of her hand, he looked straight ahead and started guiding her towards the restaurant. _Stupid potion, _he thought_._

* * *

**A/N**

**-_-;; I hope you aren't disappointed with this chapter. ;p I am grateful you're still interested. T~T _Please note: _I'm not giving up on either of my stories. I'll finish them both! **

***Rowan's exact height is 4'7" (for non-metric users) and 139.7 centimeters (for metric users). So basically, he's not much taller than Sealand or Latvia. **

**+Yeah. I'm referring to Episode 13 of the anime. It's one of my favorite scenes. ^_^**

**As for the dimensional portal stuff, I don't pretend to be the best sci-fi geek out there, so I'm sorry if I got some of the terminology and science mixed up. I just decided to show what I was imagining when talking about the magical portals that Rowan and Arthur had used.**

**English slang/terminology:**

**Crikey = general expression of surprise**

**Blimey = nice mild expletive, in terms of rudeness on a par with "my goodness."**

**Codswallop = nonsense. All three of these are old-fashioned expressions which shows even more how old Rowan may actually be, despite how old he looks.**

**shop = store**

**shop assistants = store clerks**

**Translations:**

"**Papparapa" is Japanese for "Presto".**


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